A Snake In Their Midst
by Blazewind
Summary: Jeff Hardy falls hard and fast for a new lady wrestler that has something to hide. Will her past come between them, or will the truth set them free? Rated for swearing.
1. A Rising Star

DISCLAIMER AND EXPLANATIONS  
  
  
  


I don't own any characters except for Eve and her family and friends - well, not her uncle. Eve's uncle (I won't mention who now, but you'll find out in a later chapter) is a real person, for those of you that haven't been in wrestling for very many years. I'm not sure if he has any brothers, sisters-in-law, or nieces, but if he does, any similarities between them and my characters is purely coincidental. All WWF and Alliance characters belong to the WWF corporation.  


This story goes on the basis that everything that happens in the WWF is 100% real. Laugh if you want, but that's how this story is going to go. It starts about the time that Stephanie bought ECW. Vince had an affair with Trish Stratus. I can't remember when that happened, so I'll put it about the same time. Several writers here have said that Lita's real name is Amy Dumas. Whether it is or isn't (I don't know because I have been out of wrestling for at least five years and just got back into it early in 2001), for the purpose of this story her real name is Lita. For that matter, everyone's stage name is their real name. People with names like the Undertaker had their names changed legally. Later WWF fanfics will use the real names of the wrestlers.  


Linda McMahon was never committed and still owns her 25% of the WWF.  


I've tampered with a bunch of other stuff, too, but I'm not going to bother to list them all. I have nothing against any of the wrestlers. You need to have a balance of good and bad, otherwise things wouldn't be very interesting.  


There are boa constrictors that have a slightly-darker-than blueberry yoghurt colour, but I don't know if there are any Royal (ball) pythons of this colour. I chose the Royal python because of its size and the small amount of space needed to keep it in, making it an easy snake to travel with all the time.  


* * denotes personal thoughts.  
  
  
  
  
  


CHAPTER ONE: A RISING STAR  
  
  
  


Eve Roberts parked her car in the employee lot of the arena, sitting there for a few moments after she'd turned off the engine. For what felt like the hundredth time, she wondered why she'd been called in to work on a day when the company was usually closed up. The boss had been mysterious on the phone, saying only that she was to come prepared to show her stuff.  


Someone was interested in her moves. That was the only recurring theme through all the possibilities floating around in Eve's head.  


Two other cars were parked in the same lot close by. One was Malcolm's, the boss. The other must belong to the person or persons that had come here to see her.

See her? Just her, or would others be showing up later?  


Well, one thing was for certain. Sitting in her car wasn't going to help her get her questions answered. Eve grabbed the gym bag that contained her wrestling togs and got out of the car.  
  
  
  


A few hours later Eve was having problems convincing herself that the events of the past few hours had really happened. Linda McMahon and Mick Foley - from the famous World Wrestling Federation that Eve had idolized since she was ten years old (she was 23 now) - had actually come to see her exhibit her professional wrestling skills. They'd heard good things about her, they'd said, from a talent scout that they occasionally sent to search the minor leagues for wrestlers with potential to become WWF material.  
  
After the brief office meeting, Eve went to change into her wrestling attire - black spandex tights, form-fitting black t-shirt with a bloody skull and cross bones, and a black leather jacket which she didn't wear while wrestling - and then had gone on to demonstrate various moves, holds, and pins against Mick Foley. She also had the same techniques used against her, to show she could take punishment as well as dish it out. Wrestlers from the WWF were tougher opponents than the ones in Eve's current league.  


Eve must have passed their tests with flying colours because Linda was talking about buying out Eve's contract while they were still at ringside, she and Foley towelling off the sweat from their workout. Malcolm wasn't happy about losing his best female wrestler, but he was a good man that treated all his employees - from wrestler to janitor - with respect and wanted only the best for each and every one of them. It was agreed, partly on Eve's insistence, that she would finish the three scheduled matches she had in the next two weeks, then make her debut the following Monday on Raw Is War. A new contract would be drafted up and signed before then.  
  
Because of her dazed and disbelieving state, which followed Eve well into the next day, she lost her match. Mentally toughening herself up, she won her next match. Then her new contract was signed, making her part of the WWF. One more match to go, which she had to really concentrate to win, overcome now with giddy excitement as she was. She had made her long-time dream come true, to be a wrestler in the WWF. Best of all, she'd made it on her own - a personal vow she'd made to herself years ago when she'd started on the path to becoming a professional wrestler.  


The Thursday before Eve was scheduled to make her debut, she packed up her clothes and her snake, Houdini - Linda had assured her at the signing of the new contract, when Eve had remembered to ask, that travelling with the snake wouldn't be a problem - and flew to New York, where the next Raw Is War would take place. She spent the night in the hotel, resting, then met with Linda the next day.  


Linda wanted to take a look at the style of Eve's entrance and see if it could be improved upon at all. Her theme music was an instrumental piece from the song, "I'm a Bitch." Linda decided not to change that. She suggested several different steps to add to the dance Eve did on the platform before she walked down to the ring. Eve tried all of them out and even added one or two to the act.  


That over with fairly quickly, Eve now had free time on her hands. A whole weekend lay before her. The other wrestlers wouldn't start showing up at the hotel until Sunday - not that it mattered, really. Linda wanted Eve's debut to be a complete surprise to the company - not even Vince McMahon, Linda's husband, knew about her - so Eve couldn't approach them to say hello. She wasn't even on the same floor as her new co-workers - a ruse thought up to throw the media off the scent, for Linda had decided to make a special trip to the ring on Thursday's Smackdown and say that she had an announcement to make on the next Raw Is War. Eve had watched Smackdown from the comfort of her hotel room. It would be the last time for a long time - barring an accident that put her out of commission, knock on wood - because now she would be a part of the shows.


	2. Snakesplitter

CHAPTER TWO: SNAKESPLITTER  
  
  
  


Monday finally rolled around. Eve had barely ventured from the hotel all weekend, spending most of her time outside her room in the weight room or the pool. Once or twice, she'd dined in the restaurant and Sunday - to avoid a few wrestlers she'd seen headed to the weight room, Eve had taken a walk on the hotel grounds.  
  
But as bad as waiting for the end of the weekend to arrive had been, it had nothing on the last several hours on Monday, waiting for the time when she could finally leave for the arena.  
  
Linda's personal driver picked her up at the hotel and dropped her off at the employees's entrance, where Mick Foley was waiting to hustle her off to her own dressing room, which didn't have a name on the door. Linda really wanted to keep her a secret until the last possible moment.  
  
Eve changed into her outfit and soon after, Linda came in with a hair stylist and make-up artist. A necessary thing. Besides, the women knew when not to gossip about something. It could cost them the jobs they enjoyed so much, especially working with some of the men. Linda watched them go about their work, waiting until after they had left to begin outlining how Eve's presentation at ringside would go.   


This was something they'd discussed at their last meeting and now Linda was just finalizing the plans. Linda would walk down to ringside alone, as the cameras would be on her from the moment she left her office until after Eve had made her own way down to ringside. Mick Foley would make sure that Eve didn't get lost somewhere between her dressing room and the ring.  


Eve received a few curious stares from other wrestlers hanging about in the halls when she finally emerged and began her walk with Foley. Goth types seemed to attract that kind of attention.  
  
Eve felt a little in awe of it all, being in the presence of these stars. She toughened her spine a little when she remembered that she was now a member of their ranks and, with luck, would soon be as popular as they.  
  
Eve and Foley met up with Linda, who stood waiting with a backstage coordinator, at the wrestlers's entrance to the arena. Sounds of a match and a large cheering crowd came from just beyond the barrier.  
  
"The Dudleys/Hardys match?" Foley asked Linda.  
  
Linda turned to reply. "Yes-"  
  
DING! DING! DING!  


"Well, it was," Linda said over the roaring crowd.  
  
"The winners of this tag team match, the Hardy Boys!"  
  
Eve began to take deep, even breaths. It was almost time for her to walk out there and display herself before thousands of people, possibly millions, when one considered the television viewers. It was a much larger audience then she'd ever had.   


D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley walked past them first, looking a bit disgusted with themselves for losing. Each spared her a quick glance but didn't bother to stop, exchanging nods with Linda and Foley.  


Matt and Jeff Hardy, accompanied by Lita, followed a short time later, after taking time to bask in the applause of their fans. Lita and Matt came in first, walking side by side. They stopped when they say Eve, clearly curious. Jeff, following several feet behind, ploughed right into his older brother's back. He'd been so stunned by the sight of Eve that the rest of his brain had temporarily shut down.  
  
"Easy, bro," Matt said as he gripped his brother's arm to steady them both.  


Eve struggled not to smile while at the same time Linda came forward to introduce her to them. She shook their hands, Jeff's being the last, feeling lightning fly between them before slowly releasing him from their touch.  


Matt and Lita shared a brief knowing look. The heat coming off those two was quite obvious. Could this be love at first sight?   
  
"Cue Linda's music," the coordinator said into his headset. Seconds later Linda's theme music began to play. "Well, see you in a few minutes, Eve."  


Eve turned to Linda and nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak. She didn't know why she was being affected this way. It wasn't because Jeff was famous, otherwise Matt should have affected her in the same way. No, there way something about Jeff, something between him and her that she couldn't allow to grow, not if she was going to make it on her own as she had promised herself that she would.  
  
"C'mon, bro," Matt said to Jeff. "Lets get back to the dressing room."  


"'Kay." Jeff followed Matt and Lita slowly, looking over his shoulder a few times at Eve. When he turned the corner he began to run, quickly passing Matt and Lita. He wanted to get to the dressing room and, more importantly, the television. He wanted to catch Eve's walk down to the ring.  


Lita, watching Jeff dash by, couldn't help smiling. "Wanna play matchmaker?" She turned to Matt and saw that he was smiling, too.  
  
"Lets wait a while and see how things go, first." Matt laughed and kissed away the pout on Lita's face that his words had caused.   
  
"I just want your brother to be happy. He's been looking so lonely lately, especially when he sees how happy we are-"  


"I love you, babe," Matt cut in. "I love you even more, that you're concerned about Jeff, but we only just met this woman. I think that we should get to know more about her before we try and fix them up together. Besides, goth-type chicks are kinda weird."  


Lita punched Matt's shoulder. "Oww!" he yelped, rubbing the now-tender area.  


"Serves you right. You of all people should know not to judge others by their looks." Lita kissed Matt to take the sting out of her words.  
  
  


Eve one half-listened to Linda's speech, mentally going over the steps to her dance. If she messed up, a lot more people would see it.  
  
"Nervous?" Foley asked.  
  
"Is it that obvious?"  
  
"Well, the pacing kinda gave it away."  


Eve stopped in her tracks and looked at her feet, pursing her lips as she did so. She hadn't realized that she'd been pacing.  


"Just relax. You wouldn't be here if Linda and I didn't think you had the talent to make it."  


There was no time left to reply then, as the coordinator approached Eve. "You're up."  
  
*I'm up? I think I'm going to throw up!* Eve thought as she turned around and started toward the barrier. Her theme music began playing and she continued past the curtain. Going to the centre of the platform, she began her performance to the enthusiastic roar of the crowd. Such a reception was quite an ego boost.  


Eve finished her short dance with no mistakes and started her walk down the ramp, soon joining Linda in the ring. Linda raised the microphone to her lips and was about to speak when another theme song began playing - her husband's.  


Vince McMahon and his mistress, Trish Stratus, appeared on the platform.  


*I have a bad feeling about this,* Eve thought, warily watching the pair. She moved a step closer to Linda.  
  
  


Wrestlers backstage - besides the Hardys and Lita - watched tensely on the personal TV sets in their dressing rooms as Vince and Trish got into the ring. Vince went to the ropes and motioned for someone to bring him a microphone. He started bad-mouthing Linda and demanding to know just where she got off hiring a new wrestler without consulting him first. Insults between the two McMahons started flying while the two young women just eyed each other, staring daggers.  
  
  
"Tell you what, Vince. If you're so certain I made a wrong choice in hiring Eve, why not have a match right now between her and your," Linda paused and shot a disgusted look at Trish. "Well, to borrow a few words from Y2J, your 'bottom-feeding trashbag ho'."  


Trish, enraged by Linda's insult, charged her. Eve stepped in between them and braced herself. When Trish's body contacted with hers, she shoved the blonde hard.  


Trish fell to the mat with a surprised look on her face. Vince leaned over to help her up and, boy, oh boy, was Eve ever tempted to kick the man in his behind.

When Trish was vertical again, Vince turned to Linda and said, "Linda, you've got it."  
  
The McMahons left the ring and a referee appeared. Eve removed her jacket, keeping her eyes on Trish all the while. Adrenaline began to rush through her veins and she began to forget the crowd around her. The fight trance was upon her - a state in which nothing outside her opponent and the ring existed. The trance had served her well over the years - barring sneak attacks, of course - allowing her to block out annoying distractions.  


Eve and Trish went at it for a few minutes, trading blows and moves. Trish pinned Eve three times, the first getting only a one count while the other two pins made it to the second count. When Eve got up from the last pin, she grabbed Trish's arm and whipped her into the ropes. Trish rebounded and headed back at Eve, preparing to clothesline her. With lightning speed and perfect timing, Eve dropped into a perfect splits, wrapped her arms around the backs of Trish's knees, and yanked her off her feet. Keeping her grip on Trish's legs firm, Eve brought her legs together, locked her feet over Trish's midsection, and flipped them both over. With her heels now digging into Trish's stomach, Eve used her upper body muscles to push herself off the floor and then reared back until she was kneeling.  


Eve couldn't say for certain how long she held the move - seconds or minutes - before she felt the referee tap her shoulder. She released Trish's legs and stood straight, turning to see Trish crawl her way to the ropes and Vince. The referee grabbed Eve's wrist and held her arm high.  
  
"The winner of this singles match, Eve!"  
  
Linda joined Eve in the ring, bringing a microphone with her. "Well, Vince, still think I made a mistake?"  
  
  


The roar of the crowd as they laughed at Trish and Vince's humiliation was deafening. All in all, it had been a pretty good start to Eve's new job.  


Eve and Linda went back to her dressing room, where Linda had started gushing over Eve's victory and laughing when she thought of the look on Vince's face as Eve had made Trish tap out. "What do you call that move, anyway?" Linda asked, stopping the veritable waterfall of words to allow Eve to reply.  
  
"I call it the Snakesplitter."


	3. Meeting the People

CHAPTER THREE: MEETING THE PEOPLE  
  
  
  


For those that hadn't seen Eve's debut, word quickly spread about the new girl and her dynamic submission hold. Several wrestlers loitered in the hallways by the dressing rooms, waiting for Eve the emerge so that they could meet her.  


Linda had given Eve some privacy so that she could shower and change, promising to return later to show her around and introduce her to the other wrestlers. That was more for their sake than hers, since she knew all the wrestlers from watching the shows.  


The wrestlers Eve met welcomed her to the company and the ones that had seen her fight Trish commented on her submission hold  
  
  


The Snakesplitter was only two years old and might not have come into being if Eve hadn't taken yoga classes when she was younger. It had increased her flexibility greatly, enabling her to do the splits with no problems. Then just over two years ago she'd seen the movie, "Bloodsport," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme (who looked an awful lot like Rob Van Dam). In one of his fights, Van Damme had dropped into the splits and punched his opponent in a very delicate area. Something in Eve's mind had clicked then and she'd said, "Hmm." Working out the rest of the motions to the Snakesplitter had taken about two weeks. Once it was worked out in her head, she'd begun to use it on practise partners, doing so for a month before she figured she was ready to use it in competition. Naming the move had been the easy part.  


Since developing the Snakesplitter, she rarely won by pinning an opponent anymore. The pain of having hard heels digging into a person's abdomen along with the agony of having their body bent backward - which forced the abdomen and heels harder together - usually made a person tap out quickly.  


Not all the wrestlers in the company were there. Some had finished their matches and had gone back to the hotel early, a few that didn't have matches that night hadn't come to the arena.  


She'd meet them tomorrow, Linda had said. Tomorrow afternoon everyone would be flying on the company jet to where the next Smackdown would be held. The wrestlers would have nearly two days before they had to be at work again.  


  
  


The next day when Eve got the call that it would soon be time to leave, she gave a quick once-over of the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything and double-checked the locks on Houdini's cage - he was named Houdini for a very good reason. The cage had been meant for transporting a medium-sized dog, but Eve had converted it into a portable home for Houdini. When the bell boy arrived to carry down her bags, she was ready to go.  


The elevator went down three floors before it stopped to admit another passenger, the Rock. He actually did a double-take when he looked at her face, stopping short just inside the doors. "Eve, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
They shook hands.  


"I caught your match last night. Good work."  
  
"Thanks," Eve smiled. "I was so nervous, though. Right up until the fight began, I felt like I was ready to run all the way back to Arizona."  


"Couldn't tell it by looking."  
  
  


The elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened with a ping. Eve leaned down to grab the handle of the carry cage but Rock gently brushed her hand away and said, "Let me get that for you."  
  
  


Eve let him carry Houdini for her, though her first reaction had been to tell him not to bother. Instead, she managed to stop herself and smile and thank him. Rock was just trying to be a gentleman. Besides, she could remain true to her vow to make her own reputation and still have friends. Alienating her coworkers would only make things tougher for her in the long run.  
  
There were several wrestlers in the lobby and Eve noticed Jeff Hardy watching her from the corner of her eye. He'd a good one to avoid, she could tell, judging by the way her stomach dropped to her knees just by having the man in the same room. Jeff Hardy definitely meant trouble for her.  


In another part of the lobby, Edge and Christian stood eyeing the black-haired woman standing next to the Rock. "That must be the new girl, Eve," Christian said to Edge.  


"Girl?" Edge returned. "Christian, she looks all woman to me."  


"You got that right, bro. Man, what I wouldn't give for some ring time with her - a private ring, that is."  


"I hear ya, man, I hear ya."  


Both eyed Eve through the whole narrative. She wore tight black jeans, a white t-shirt, her black leather jacket, and lavender-tinted sunglasses. Her raven black hair was partially swept up into a high ponytail at the back with a few stray wisps pulled out to frame her face.  


"Let's go introduce ourselves."  


  
  
  


Eve shared a limo with Edge, Christian, and the Rock on the way to the WWF jet. Edge had beaten the other two out for the honour of sitting next to her. Rock had opened the door for her and now sat across from her. Houdini's case was on the floor by her feet. Thankfully, none of these men were freaked out by the presence of her snake. She'd known quite a few men in her career who'd professed to be as brave as these three men here, yet had run screaming like little girls after just meeting Houdini.  


When they arrived at the airport, Rock got out first and offered his hand to Eve, then leaned in to grab Houdini's case. Houdini would be placed with the luggage in the cargo hold, a fact which worried Eve, considering how well she knew her snake. Houdini only ever broke out of his cage when no one was watching him, leaving Eve to wonder for years how he managed to escape from every enclosure he'd ever inhabited. Trying to catch him with a video camera never worked. It was like he knew he was being watched and, like the man he was named for, would not reveal his secrets.  


One the plane, Eve met the last few wrestlers she'd missed the night before and reacquainted with others she had already met.  
  
Jeff Hardy approached her and she managed to remain polite and no more friendly than she had been with any of the others, managing to hide the flare of desire that had ignited each time they'd been within sight of each other. Jeff went away in puzzlement.  
  
Matt and Lita, who had been monitoring the exchange, shared another look that spoke volumes. Was Eve's attraction to Jeff a fleeting thing, they both wondered?


	4. An Embarrassing Moment

CHAPTER FOUR: AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT  
  
  
  


When the plane landed, Eve was one of the last few people to leave the plane. Consequently, she was up close and personal when two luggage handlers ran screaming from the cargo hold. Realizing what this probably meant, a blush rose on Eve's face. What a thing to be happening now, with these people around who barely knew her.  


"What do you suppose that's all about?" Undertaker asked Kane. Kane merely shrugged his shoulders in response. These two had arrived before Eve and had no idea they'd been flying with a snake on board.  
  
Eve's face grew hotter at the question, hotter still when Edge and Christian began to chuckle as she made a bee-ligne for the cargo hold's access port. They'd asked her about her snake on the way over and had guessed he'd just escaped again.  
  
Others wondered why Eve was headed to the cargo hold and most began to follow at a slower pace.  
  
Eve reached the ramp and let out a sharp, piercing whistle as she walked up the ramp. "Yo, Houdini, let's get this show on the road!"  
  
Houdini slithered from between two secured suitcases several feet from his cage, making his way over to her. With a sigh that was part frustration, part annoyance, and part I-love-you-anyway, Eve reached down to pick him up and drape him about her shoulders. She'd just bring him straight out without trying to get his cage - the sooner she got out, then the sooner the bag boys could get back to finishing their task of unloading the bags.  


When Eve walked out of the plane, she got more reactions over the colour of her snake than the fact that she had one. Several actually got into a discussion on the shade, the two most popular choices being blueberry cheesecake and slightly-darker-than blueberry yoghurt. Eve was still embarrassed over the whole deal, but not as much.


	5. A Near Kiss

CHAPTER FIVE: A NEAR KISS  
  
  
  


The next several weeks found Eve strengthening her ties with the other wrestlers. Jeff, she still tried to avoid, which wasn't easy considering that they worked together and she'd struck up a close relationship with Lita. He was always around and sometimes she caught him staring at her strangely, as if she was some kind of puzzle he was trying to figure out. At least it seemed that way. He was always quick to avert his gaze when he knew she'd noticed him staring.  


On group outings they talked and danced, at restaurants they always managed somehow to be seated next to each other. In the gyms he'd often spot her while she lifted weights - she still didn't know how they always seemed to end up there at the same time.  


Eve could feel her walls crumbling - the ones with anti-Jeff posters plastered all over them - and, quite frankly, she was scared. To let Jeff in past her defenses was a risk to her goals. Considering what was at stake, she couldn't let that happen.  
  
  


It was a Wednesday afternoon in Florida. Several of the wrestlers - Eve, Lita, and the Hardys amoung them - that weren't slated to make an appearance on Smackdown or any of the weekend shows had gone ahead to where the next Raw Is War was scheduled to be held.  


Eve was wondering what Matt, Jeff, and Lita were doing in Florida. Usually, whenever they had the chance, the three would go back home to North Carolina. With now until mid-afternoon on Monday free, that's where they should have been headed. Instead, they were here. In the same hotel. Sharing side-by-side rooms just across the hall.  
  
Funny, Lita hadn't said anything about her and Matt and Jeff going directly to Florida, not even when she'd asked Eve what her plans were.

  
  


"I'm going ahead with some of the guys."  


"Really? No plans to see your family then, huh?"  
  
Eve's whole body stiffened and her hackles rose. "No," she'd replied, then walked away to leave Lita standing in the hallway, staring at her retreating back.  


The next time they'd seen each other, Lita didn't bring up Eve's abrupt departure. Eve was happy to leave it buried.  
  
Remembering that, Eve finally connected it to their prescence here and now. She cringed. Were they feeling sorry for her, here to keep her company? Well, dammit, she didn't need their pity!  
  
Feeling the need to escape now, Eve got dressed in sweats and left her hotel room. She bumped into Jeff - literally - hurrying around the corner heading toward the elevator.  
  
"Woah!" Jeff said, his hands gripping her shoulders to steady them both. Like a repeat of the first time they'd met, their rouch sent a sudden flame of desire through them both. Inexplicably, their heads began to move closer together until their lips were almost touching.  


*Oh my God! What the hell am I thinking?!* Shocked, Eve pulled back and looked up at Jeff. Her eyes were filled with fear.  


Jeff could only puzzle over the look Eve gave him. Why was she so frightened? "Eve," he said, raising his hands to touch her again.  


Eve flinched and held up her hands to try to ward off his touch. "Don't touch me!" She turned and fled, choosing to take the stairs rather than wait for an elevator and risk Jeff trying to follow her. For that very reason, she chose to jog outside the hotel rather than use the indoor track.  


Eve was running from her fears, trying to avoid her memories. But the encounter with Jeff just now had brought them into focus with more vivid and painful detail than there had ever been before.  


When Eve had announced her plans to become a wrestler when she was twelve, her father had laughed it off, thinking she was simply dreaming tomboy dreams of being like her famous uncle. But even then, Eve had been serious about what she wanted. Asking her uncle for advice, Eve began to work out and build up her muscles. She practiced wrestling moves that she saw on TV with her giant brown teddy bear. She always won, of course.  


In highschool, Eve had to learn to wrestle in a different way than those in the professional leagues. She joined the high school wrestling team by forging her father's signature on the permission form. He never took an interest in her schooling except to see how her grades were doing from time to time, so he hadn't learned right away about her deception. Her mother had, though. Eve had been scared when her mother had confronted her, certain Mom would tell Dad. But amazingly enough, she hadn't. Her mother had kept her secret.  
  
Then came the day that Eve graduated highschool. Her father had been present for the whole day, including the awards ceremony. His smile had become frozen in place when she'd gotten the most valuable wrestler award. Nothing had been said then, he'd waited until she'd gotten home, where he could blow up at her in private.  
  
It was the first night he'd slapped her. It was also the last night she'd seen him. She'd ran to her room and stayed there until well into the next day, waiting until her mom had driven her dad to the airport before going downstairs. Her dad had delayed his business trip a few days in order to be able to go to her graduation ceremony - he worked for a big import/export company and had to travel alot.  
  
Eve had called a friend of hers - Deidre "Dee" Powers - and asked if she could move in with her for a short while. Sarah, being her best and closest friend (as well as looking after her wealthy parents' house for the next several years while they were off doing missionary work in a third-world country), said yes. Dee called up her boyfriend, Derek Walters, for help and also because he had a van. Together, they managed to get Eve's stuff packed and in the van before her mom got home. Eve left a letter behind that explained that she had to follow her dreams and she couldn't stay at home if her father couldn't support her.  


Since that day, she'd neither seen nor spoken to either of her parents directly, all messages going through Dee. Not that there were all that many, anyway, and none in the past three years. She hadn't even bothered to ask Dee to pass on the news that she'd gotten her much-coveted contract with the WWF. Dee had squaled with joy, though, and that had meant alot to Eve.  


They had kept in regular contact since Eve had moved out of Dee's parents' home. Eve had been the first one called when Derek had finally proposed, she'd been Dee's maid of honor at their wedding, and when Derek had called her in the middle of the night to say they'd just been in a car accident, Eve had driven four hours to hold her friend's hand while she lost the baby she hadn't known she'd been carrying.  
  
  


"Shit!" Eve was startled from her memories when the skies opened up and began raining on her. It was really cold rain, too. And here she was stuck on a trail in the woods a good half hour away from the hotel.  
  
*Nothing to do now but run back to the hotel,* Eve thought with a mental sigh.  


Needless to say, Eve was completely soaked through to her skin and chilled to the bone when she got back. Several people gave her odd looks, like a girl that didn't have enough sense to come out of the rain right away should not be staying at the same hotel as them.  


A hot shower went a long way to warming Eve up. She dressed in a second pair of sweats and tossed the wet clothes in the hamper to be cleaned by the hotel staff later on. She was still towel-drying her hair (blow-drying made it frizz horribly) when a knock came at her door.  
  
It was Lita. She walked into the room without waiting for an invitation and Eve closed the door and turned to face her.  


"What happened between you and Jeff? He came looking for you about an hour ago. He looked really upset but he wouldn't say why."  
  
"Hello, Lita, how are you doing?" Eve said with a slight edge of sarcasm.  


Lita looked surprised for a moment and was also temporarily speechless.  
  
"We nearly kissed," Eve said to break the silence. "I reacted badly and ran off."  


*Uh oh,* Lita thought to herself. *If this is how Eve reacts after an almost-kiss, then getting these two together is going to be a lot harder than I thought.* "A kiss? What's so scary about that?"  
  
"Alot, if you had my past," Eve replied cryptically. When Lita would have questioned her about it, she added, "Look, I'm not ready to discuss that part of myself right now. I don't want to hurt anyone, especially Jeff-"  


Lita's ears perked up at the "especially Jeff" part.  
  
"-but I'm not looking to be in a relationship with anyone right now. I know that's where this attraction between us will lead."  


"There's nothing I can say to change your mind?"  
  
"No. Until I clear up certain issues, I can't allow myself to get close to Jeff like that. I couldn't be the kind of girlfriend that he deserves. I won't do that to him."  


*So that's why she's allowed herself to become friends with everyone else while being aloof with Jeff.* "I'm beginning to understand now. Is it okay if I share what you've said with Jeff? He doesn't understand why you're pushing him away and its hurting him."  
  
Eve hesitated a few moments before replying. "Yes, as long as it doesn't get beyond him and Matt." Eve didn't want Lita to keep secrets from Matt, which was why she'd added his name in.  
  
"I'll make sure that it doesn't." Lita started to leave.  


"Lita, I'm going to go to bed early. If you could make sure that Jeff doesn't decide to come knocking on my door..." Eve trailed off.  


"I'll make sure that he doesn't."


	6. I Think I'm Gonna Hurl

CHAPTER SIX: I THINK I'M GONNA HURL  
  
  
  


It was Monday evening. Jeff hadn't tried to approach Eve all weekend - privately or otherwise. When they were close together, he barely said two words to her and tried to avoid looking at her, as well. It was hard for Eve to deal with - first attentiveness, and now, denial. But she couldn't have it both ways.  


Eve was facing Jacqueline tonight and wished that she wasn't. Not that she was afraid to face the other woman - because she wasn't - but a consequence had developed from her little run in the rain last week. She had developed a bad chest cold which was slowly getting worse instead of better. She wouldn't be her best if she fought tonight and that bothered her, but it would bother her more if she asked for the night off. Other wrestlers had battled with much worse than what she had, and she knew she could match a lot of them in the ring when she was at the top of her game.  
  
There was a very slim chance that Eve could win this match and she went into the ring that night with that thought in her head. She managed to last nearly five minutes, but then a wave of dizziness hit just before Jacky clotheslines her and got the pin for the 1-2-3.  


Eve tried to struggle to her feet but her legs would no longer obey her commands. Jacky, with all of her experience, knew that Eve had not suffered serious-enough injuries during their match for her to be acting this way. Something must be wrong. Jacky stopped her parade around the ring and went to Eve's side, kneeling down next to her. Eve barely realized she was there.  
  
A stretcher was called for and Eve was carefully loaded onto it. When the stretcher was halfway to the platform, Eve, with her eyes closed, could hear Jacqueline's voice addressing the crowd.  
  
"Everyone, I want you to give it up for Eve. She came out here tonight when she knew she was sick, when she wasn't feeling her best-" Whatever else she had to say was cut off by the roaring applause from the crowd. Well, that was nice.  


While Eve was with the sports doctor backstage, Jeff Hardy burst into the room. He certainly was a sight, dressed for battle. And he'd died his hair again - half ocean blue, half neon green, with strands of his normal blonde colour underneath.  
  
"I just heard... WHY did you go out there tonight if you were so sick?!"  
  
Eve contemplated the proper response to that for a few moments, then gave him the finger.  
  
Jeff stormed out, slamming the door behind him. He was back ten seconds later. "I care about you. You can be as nasty as you want and try to push me away, but that isn't going to change how I feel about you." he left again, shutting the door more quietly this time.  
  
Eve began to cry. She didn't like this side of herself that was so hurtful to other people. Well, person, really. Jeff was the first man - that's man, not boy, because there had been a few boys she'd had powerful crushes on - she'd had more than buddy-buddy feelings for. This funny, different man that was affectionately called Skittles - for obvious reasons - by his friends made her want to forget everything else and run naked through a field of wild flowers. Yet here she was trying to push him away, hurting him in the process. That's what she didn't like about herself. She was hurting a man that didn't deserve it because of a promise she'd made to herself long before they'd met. She was ashamed of herself.  
  
Eve didn't hear the door open again. She felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned toward it. *Jeff.*  


Neither noticed the doctor leave the room, pulling the door shut behind him. He figured he might as well give them some privacy because he wasn't likely to get much work done until those two got their act together.  
  
Both of Jeff's hands cupped Eve's face, the pads of his thumbs wiping away her few tears.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered.  
  
The door opened once again, cutting off Jeff's reply.  


"Hey, Jeff, enough with the musical door already." Matt said, exasperated. "We're up next and we need to get to the ramp ASAP."  
  
"We'll talk later," Jeff whispered into her ear.  


Jeff held the door open for the doctor before he left yet again. Eve eyed his gorgeous backside the whole time. *Boy, am I ever in trouble now,* she thought.  


Meanwhile, Jeff was looking over his shoulder at a certain door while walking beside Matt. Matt, noticing his brother's preoccupation, smacked him in the back of his head. "Pay attention to where you're going, Jeff. She'll still be there when we've finished our match."  


Lita was waiting for them on the ramp when they got there. "Geez, you two sure cut this close. The bell sounded like five seconds ago!"  
  
Snickers came from another area of the ramp. Edge and Christian, their opponents for tonight.  
  
"Ah, stick it in your blow hole," Jeff said good-naturedly.  
  
  


After the match, Jeff cleaned up quickly and put on a new shirt before going to see how Eve was doing. She was resting on her side on a padded table with her eyes closed. The doctor was dealing with a cut on Edge's forehead that he'd gotten from being shoved into the metal stairs.  
  
"How you doing?" Jeff asked, feeling a bit guilty since he'd been the one to push him.  


"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."  
  
Jeff turned back to Eve to find her awake and looking right at him. He went over and helped her off the table, picking her up when her legs wobbled unsteadily.  


Eve found that she liked being carried by Jeff, perhaps just a little too much. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face to the area where Jeff's neck and shoulder met, inhaling his scent. Sweat, cologne, and something else that was uniquely Jeff Hardy.  


They went back to the hotel together and Jeff carried Eve from the car to her room, where he deposited her gently on the bed and went about seeing that she was made comfortable. When he could find no more tasks to occupy himself, he went and sat on the side of the bed near the middle, not quite facing Eve.  
  
"I'm sorry," Eve said in a near-whisper.  
  
"You already said that," Jeff replied, turning to look into her face. "What I want to know is why you've been so cold to me practically since you got here."  


"Lita-"  
  
"Lita told me basically nothing," Jeff interrupted. "Just that your past is coming between us, what we could have together. Tell me why," he pleaded.  


"I can't, not yet." Eve turned her gaze away.  


Jeff wouldn't let her escape that easily. He placed a hand under her shin and turned her back to face him. "Can't? Or won't?"  


"Perhaps a little of both. Until I deal with it, I'm not really free to be with anyone the way..."  
  
"You want to be with me?" finished for her on a hopeful note.  


Eve could only nod, emotions clogging her throat and making her unable to speak.  
  
"Is it something I can help you with?"  


She shook her head. No.  


"You have to do it on your own." Jeff took his hand away, sighed in frustration, then ran his hands through his blue and green hair.  


Eve reached out and touched Jeff's shoulder. He didn't react, not right away, at least. He contemplated the situation, what he could do right now and what the consequences might be. Only one seemed to be something Eve might be willing to accept.  


Just when Eve was about to move her hand, one of Jeff's came up and covered it, staying there briefly before interlacing their fingers and then moving their hands to his lap. "Eve, I think its plain that I care for you. I can't make you tell me your secrets and I can't make you let me help you, but I'll be here for you if you need me. All I ask is that you stop trying to push me away. I'd rather be your friend than nothing at all. Okay?"  
  
How could Eve resist?


	7. How Not To Feed A Snake

CHAPTER SEVEN: HOW NOT TO FEED A SNAKE  
  
  


Two days later...  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
Eve winced. *Damn, caught in the act!* She turned with a smile on her face. "Jeff! I-"  


"Uh uh. Back to bed. Now!"  


Sighing, Eve went back inside her hotel room. She waited until Jeff was inside and shut the door before she opened her mouth. "I was just going out to buy Houdini something to eat."  


"You rest here. I'll go," Jeff replied. "What do you need?"  


"I've got the phone number and address right here," Eve said, pulling a piece of paper from her purse and handing it to Jeff. "When you get there, just tell the cashier that you're there to pick up a full-size feeder rat." Eve reached into her purse for her wallet and missed the look of, well, UGH! was about the best word to describe the look on Jeff's face just then.  


"A rat?" Jeff questioned Eve as he accepted a twenty dollar bill.  


"Yep," Eve replied.  


"Don't they have, like, tins of snake show or something?"  
  
Eve raised an eyebrow slightly. She could have some fun with this, she realized, fighting not to show a smile. "Sorry, nope."  


Jeff took his wallet from the front pocket of his jeans and gingerly stuffed the twenty in there, apparently imagining it as the rat he would soon exchange it for.  
  
"So, are they going to give me a box to put it in or something?"  
  
"They'll probably just put it in a bag for you."  
  
"A bag? Won't it get loose?"  
  
"Not if its dead."  
  
"Dead? I'm going to a pet shop to buy a dead rat?"  


"It won't be dead until after you get there."  


"How...nice," Jeff said, making it sound like anything but. He put his wallet back in his pants.  


"Yep. Makes it much easier to cut the thing up before its fed to the snake. You'll have to do that, though. If I do it, I might give my germs to Houdini."

  
  


Jeff looked sharply at Eve when he heard he'd have to cut up a dead rat. Eve could no longer contain herself and burst out laughing from the shocked look on Jeff's face.  
  
"Don't worry, Jeff," Eve managed to say between giggles after she started to calm down. "You won't have to make rat chunks!" Then she was off again roaring with laughter.  
  
Jeff moved with lightning speed over to Eve, scooped her up in his arms, and brought her over to the bed, dropped her, and started tickling her sides. He tortured her this way until he had her screaming and begging for mercy.  
  
"I'll be back soon," Jeff said when he finally got up. He went to his room first to grab his baseball cap and sunglasses. He tied his hair up in an elastic band and hid it under the hat. Fans mobbing him while he was purchasing an expired rodent was not something Jeff Really wanted to happen. He cringed just imagining the headlines that would almost certainly follow.  
  
  


When Jeff back to the hotel it was to find that Eve had fallen asleep. He didn't want to disturb her - sick people needed their rest, after all - so he decided to handle the snake-feeding himself. He sat cross-legged in front of Houdini's cage and set the paper bag down between himself and the cage.  
  
Now, how to go about feeding the snake?  
  
Jeff stared at the paper bag for at least a full minute, all the time thinking that he really didn't want to reach into it and take out the dead rat. Well, that part was easy to tackle once he'd thought of a plan - simply tear the bag open.  


Now Jeff had to deal with a dead rat wrapped up in a couple of paper towels. Taking care that he only handled the edges of the paper towel, Jeff was soon staring at the unwrapped rat corpse. He actually had to touch that thing and put it in the cage with Houdini?  


Wait! Eve had never said that he couldn't let Houdini out of his cage and get the rat himself. Well, she hadn't actually given him any instructions on feeding the snake. Jeff shrugged. There was no reason why he couldn't do it that way. He reached over to unlock the cage door and swing it open.

That's when Jeff discovered a very big problem with his brilliant plan. Houdini, smelling a nice juicy rat, struck swiftly at the moving object - Jeff's hand - and sunk his tiny sharp teeth into the flesh.  
  
"OW! HOLYFUCKGODDAMNSONOFABITCHSHIT!"  


Eve shot straight up in bed upon hearing Jeff yelling and swearing, managing somehow to make several swears sound like one long curse word. Seeing Houdini firmly attached to Jeff's hand and a dead rat on the floor on top of some paper towels and a torn brown paper bag, she wasn't sure if she should laugh or go try to help. The latter, she quickly decided. Jeff was trying to pry Houdini off his hand.  
  
"Jeff, stop! Don't do that!" Eve struggled from beneath the covers and ran to Jeff's side. She forcefully moved his free hand away from Houdini's head.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Jeff demanded to know. "This hurts! I want him off me now!" He tried to pull his hand free from Eve's grip but she held firm.  


"Oh, will you quit being such a big baby? The same thing's happened to me several times and I know it doesn't hurt as badly as you make it seem."  


Jeff stopped whining long enough to throw her a dirty look. "So what do you suggest I do?" he asked through clenched teeth.  
  
"You'll have to wait for Houdini to let go."  
  
"What?!"  


"If you try to pry him off, it could break his teeth off-"  
  
"So?" Jeff interrupted with a mulish expression.  


"-in your skin and quite possibly give you one hell of an infection if the doc misses pulling so much as even one of those little suckers out."  


Jeff wasn't pleased about things, but he allowed Eve to control the situation. True to her word, Houdini eventually let go of Jeff's hand, slowly disengaging his teeth.  


Eve led Jeff into the bathroom, sat him on the toilet, and cleaned and bandaged the cut. She pressed a light kiss on the bandages. "See? All better."  
  
Jeff watched silently as Eve turned away from him, tidied up around the sink, then washed her hands. "First rule of feeding snakes," Eve began, not looking directly at Jeff. "You always wash your hands before you handle the snake. If your hands smell like their food, they'll try to eat them."  
  
Eve walked out of the bathroom to get Houdini, raising her voice so that Jeff could still hear her as she talked to him. "Try to avoid feeding them in their cage. It's very possible for their food to get contaminated by their own feces." She came back in carrying Houdini and placed him in the tub. Jeff eyed Eve's behind as she leaned over, his gaze shooting back to her face as she straightened. "They say its best to use a solid plastic basket to feed them in and cover it partially with a towel or small blanket. I've found that a bathtub works just as good. I just turn the light off and leave the door wide open to let a bit of light spill in from another room. Snakes are nocturnal and so prefer not to have too much light around when they're feeding."  


Eve left the room again, turning off the light as she went. She came back in carrying a long set of tongs - which was gripping the dead rat by its tail - and what looked kind of like a cane for a midget, except that it was straight-handled and upside down. The first thing Eve did was to use the cane thingy to pin the snake several inches behind his head.  
  
"I'm doing this," Eve said, returning to her snake-feeding lecture, "because Houdini often tries to lunge at his 'prey'. Because snakes have bad eye sight, he misses occasionally and grabs onto the tongs...or someone's hand." Eve put the rat in the tub and let Houdini go. "Now, the rest is up to him."


	8. Sneak Attack

CHAPTER EIGHT: SNEAK ATTACK  
  
  
  


Eve had been with the WWF for nearly two months now. It felt longer, though, with all that had happened and the friends she had made. In those two months she'd had matches against nearly all the women and won them all except for the match against Jacqueline. The only two women she hadn't fought yet were Chyna - who was out right now because of a broken ankle - and Lita.  
  
When Eve realized this, she told Lita.  
  
Lita sat still for a moment with a slight frown, searching her memory. "Yeah! We'll have to do something about it."  


"And soon," Eve replied. "There's barely any competition here among the women's division. Most of its in the WWF."  


"Maybe you should think about getting into singles matches with the men."  


"I want to. That's been the plan from the start. But Linda said that I would have to work my way up first. Who knows how long that'll take?"  


The two women sat sunning themselves by the hotel pool, other WWF Superstars either swimming or lounging all around them. The hotel manager had closed the pool to all the other customers for the day so that they wouldn't be bothered by fans wanting autographs and pictures. Eve was wearing a bright yellow bikini with thin black stripes while Lita's was a glittering silver.  
  
The women were silent for a while as they leaned back on their lounge chairs and watched as Matt and Jeff practiced Swantons off the high dive. Matt wore navy blue trunks while Jeff wore a rainbow tie-dyed pair. Eve wondered how he'd been able to dye his hair to match.  
  
*My God, he's sexy!* Eve thought, then blushed. Jeff was supposed to be her friend, just her friend. She shouldn't be thinking about him like that. But it was sooo hard not to. Every so often she was tempted to chuck her self-made promises out the window and jump the man's bones. Thankfully - or unfortunately? - Jeff had kept to his word and only offered her his friendship.  


"What about Smackdown?" Lita asked, breaking into Eve's thoughts.  
  
"For what?" Eve asked distractedly.  


"For our match." Lita knew that Eve and Jeff were wildly attracted to each other and wasn't sure why they weren't doing anything about it. Now, she couldn't either. After Eve had gotten over her bad cold, she and Jeff - and Houdini, of course - had caught up with them in Miami, Florida, the Rock's home town. There, Jeff had taken Lita and Matt aside and made them both swear that they wouldn't interfere with him and Eve. She wasn't ready for a relationship and he had promised her that they would just be friends. If either Matt or Lita tried to interfere, they could scare Eve away, maybe forever.  
  
"Can't then. I have to face Keibler elf again. But we should try to arrange one soon. I've got a few moves I've been holding back, waiting for the right time to use them."  
  
"Considering your Snakesplitter, should I be worried?" Lita wondered how many other moves Eve had created. Though it would involve pain on her part, she was interested in finding out.  


"You'll see," was Eve's cryptic reply.  
  
  
  
Later that week on Samckdown...  
  
Eve had just gotten the Snakesplitter put on Stacy Keibler when she felt something hard slam against her back. She released Stacy's legs and fell forward. Stacy scrambled out of the way and Eve rolled over onto her back to see Rob Van Dam standing over her holding the Hardcore belt.  


The match was disqualified then, but that wasn't the end of the fight. Terri and Tori ran out from the back and started helping Stacy pound on Eve as RVD left the ring, his work for the moment done. Eve could do nothing to fend off her three attackers, all she could do was try to protect her head with her arms and wait it out.  
  
  
  
"Shit!" Jeff yelled backstage in the dressing room. He threw down the can of pop he'd been drinking from, jumped up and ran from the room.  


Matt and Lita looked at each other. "Should we?" Lita asked.  


"Jeff can handle three women, but we should go out, too, just in case RVD or someone else comes out."  


"Well, let's go then."  
  
  


Jeff dove into the ring under the bottom rope. When he reached the three blondes, he wrapped his hands in the nearest one's - Tori's? - hair and pulled her away. She flipped over backwards and landed on her face. He grabbed the waist of the next girl and threw her across the ring. That left Stacy, who by now had realized that someone had taken out her comrades. She stared wide-eyed as Jeff began to slowly advance, glaring at her. She shook her head no as she slowly backed away.  
  
When Stacy was close enough to the ropes, she dashed out under the bottom one. Jeff ran after her, trying to grab her hair from over the top rope, but by then she was already out of his reach.  
  
Jeff went straight for Eve now, wanting to make sure that she was alright. He got down on his knees next to her and turned her over onto her back.  


Tori and Terri got up and double-teamed Jeff, kicking him in the back at the same time. Jeff went sprawling over Eve, knocking the wind out of her.  


Matt and Lita, luckily, had timed their entrance perfectly. They got into the ring just as Terri and Tori were preparing to double-team Jeff again. Matt and Lita body slammed the two women.  
  
Jeff got up off of Eve and looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "Sorry about landing on you like that."

"Couldn't be helped."  


Jeff got out of the ring first, then helped Eve to slide out under the bottom rope and steady her as she stood. Matt and Lita met them down there and Eve's theme music began to play as she and team Xtreme walked from ringside.  
  
  
  
"I just wish you hadn't come down to ringside, is all."  


Eve was backstage in her dressing room, Lita, Matt and Jeff keeping her company. She'd seen the doctor already and been pronounced fine. She night be a little bit stiff and bruised tomorrow, though.  
  
"So you would prefer that we'd left you out there to get pounded on?" Matt asked, rolling the phrase around in his head and trying to figure out why it should make sense.  
  
"Yes!" Eve made it sound as if Matt had had some sort of mental breakthrough.  


"But why?" Lita asked.  


Jeff just stood there, saying nothing.  
  
"Look, I don't want you guys to think I'm not grateful for what you did for me out there tonight, because I really am grateful. It's just..." Eve paused, trying to think fo the right words to say to her friends that wouldn't offend them. "I'm an only child and this career is not what my father had planned for me, said I would never make it. I told him I would make it and without any help besides. It's very important to me that I show him that I can do this without help."  
  
Jeff decided to finally add his two cents in. He stood up and walked over to Eve, reaching for her hands. "I can't speak for these two, but I understand what you're saying. But you have to understand something, too. We're you're friends and if you ever need us, we'll be there helping you - probably whether you want our help or not."  
  
"Yep," from Lita.  


"Definitely," from Matt.  


"Fair 'nuff?" Jeff asked.  


"Fair 'nuff," Eve repeated. Her life had truly become blessed the day she'd met these three.


	9. Clash of the Titanettes

CHAPTER NINE: CLASH OF THE TITANETTES  
  
  
  


Linda McMahon met with Eve and Lita in her office two days later.  
  
"We came to you because we want a straight-up singles match," Lita said.  
  
"Yeah," Eve threw in. "We don't want to get stuck in some bra-and-panties match, mud wrestling, or any other weird crap Vince is likely to pull. I'm pretty sure he's still sore at me for beating Trish my first night here...and the second and third time."  


"We know we're both great wrestlers - better than most of the other women here and even some of the men." Lita took back the conversation. "We want the chance to see how we'll do against each other in the ring."  


Linda had sat listening to their request and, after a brief silence, replied, "I see nothing wrong with scheduling a match for you two soon." Another pause as the young women expressed their thanks. "I'd like to add a stipulation to the match, if neither of you have any objections. It should make things a bit more interesting." Eve and Lita waited to hear Linda's suggestion. "Neither of you can use submission holds for this match."  


Lita rarely used submission holds, so it was quite easy for her to agree. Eve took a little bit longer. Her snakesplitter was proving to be a powerful move even here and she'd finished almost every match she'd had her so far with it. Did she really want to agree to a match where she couldn't use it? But then, the whole point of trying to get this match with Lita was to really show off her skills. She wouldn't get that if she tried to go for an early submission. Eve's answer, when it came, was yes, too.  


All that was left was to pick a date for the match. Summer Slam was still two months away and a ladies' match hadn't been scheduled for it yet, but Eve and Lita didn't really want to wait that long. Depending on how things went in the next few weeks, perhaps Eve and Lita could tag team on two women from the Alliance? The next two best choices were Raw and Smackdown. They got better ratings than Metal, Excess, Jakked, Livewire, and Heat (the weekend shows).  


They agreed to a slot for Smackdown next week.  
  
  


When the night for Eve and Lita's fight finally came, Eve went out first. She wasn't expecting to see both Matt and Jeff accompanying Lita to ringside. The three of them got into the ring and did their thing, then Matt and Jeff went to Lita's corner.  
  
"What are they both doing here?" Eve whisper-asked Lita.  


"Matt's here for me, Jeff's here for you, and together they'll stop each other from interfering," Lita whisper-replied.  
  
*That was nice of Jeff,* Eve thought. Even though he wasn't there physically, Jeff wanted her to know he was in her corner.

DING! DING! DING!  
  
The match began. At first, Eve and Lita went through their paces, trading kicks and punches, countering moves like suplexes and piledrivers, simple things like that. Then about two minutes into the match, when the women had a double headlock on each other with Eve on top (if you could really call it that), Eve said to Lita, "Ready for me to show you those moves I was telling you about?"  
  
"Yeah," Lita replied with a punch to Eve's stomach.  
  
The women separated and Lita caught Eve with a clothesline, sending her crashing to the mat. Lita tried to get in a moonsault but failed. Eve - yes, Eve - did the twist of fate and quickly followed up with a five star frog splash. From there on Eve had the upper hand, executing moonsaults, swantons, and other patented Hardy moves - even a one person version of poetry in motion, which had Eve doing a jump and half front forward flip (actually, it looked more like a hand-stand rebound off the ropes, except Eve's hands didn't touch the ground until after the back of her upside-down body had connected with Lita's front).  


Matt and Jeff's jaws collectively dropped. Of all the things they'd been expecting, this hadn't been one of them. Eve's secret moves were that she could do moves as well as Team Xtreme!  


Eve had one final surprise in store, a modified swanton bomb. It was more of a cross between a swanton and a five star. Eve started out crouched on the top turnbuckle, then she leapt as high into the air as she could. Her legs and arms tucked up close to her body as she did a full frontward flip in mid-air, then she spread her arms and legs out as she came crashing down on top of Lita. Eve pulled Lita's leg up and got the three count.  


DING! DING! DING!  
  
Eve rolled off Lita and both women lay there, gasping and panting for breath. Jeff and Matt came into the ring, looking to help Lita.

Jeff stood while Matt kneeled next to Lita and checked her over. She was fine, just a bit stunned. She motioned for Jeff to go over to Eve and help her.  
  
*Good,* Eve thought. *They're making it look like this is nothing more than good sportsmanship.*  
  
Jeff leaned down and extended a hand to Eve. She made a show of looking from his hand to his face and back to his hand. A few more seconds and she reached up to grasp his hand with her own.  


Matt, in the meantime, had gotten Lita to her feet. The two women limped to each other and shook hands, then, with the help of the two men, got out of the ring and went limping backstage.


	10. Grand Theft Serpent

CHAPTER 10: GRAND THEFT SERPENT

  
  


The next day Jeff went to see Eve in her hotel room. He knocked on her door and she opened it a few seconds later, holding a cell phone to her ear. She motioned him to come in with her hand and moved away from the door. Jeff came in and shut the door behind him, listening to Eve's end of her phone conversation.

"That's great! I'll see you in two months then... I love you, too. Bye bye."

*Love?* A flair of jealousy rose in Jeff's heart.

Eve tossed her phone on the bed and came back to Jeff. "That was Dee, an old friend of mine. She was just calling to let me know that she and her husband, Derek, have front row tickets to Survivor Series in two months. I haven't seen them in forever!"

Jeff released a gusty sigh, not realizing until that point that he'd been holding his breath.

Eve looked at him strangely. "Jeff?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Whatever. Come on, lets get to the arena if you want me to teach you that move." She grabbed her gym bag from off the bed.

"What do you call it, anyway?" Jeff asked.

"I haven't decided on a name yet." Eve locked the door and walked with Jeff toward the elevator. "Something like wheel of destiny or circle of fate."

Jeff nodded, liking the choices. "What about something that combines a little of swanton bomb and five star frog splash?"

"Thought of that already, didn't really like the choices. Besides, just because it's a cross between the two moves, it doesn't mean the name should be."

"Circle of destiny sounds good."

That's what Eve would end up calling it.

  
  


They spent a few hours together working on the circle of destiny, the hard part being the full aerial flip. Hard as he tried, Jeff couldn't seem to manage more than a three-quarter flip.

Finally, Eve called a halt. "We're not going to get any farther until you get the flip down," Eve told Jeff. "Why don't you try practicing on a trampoline when you can? There won't be any point in trying this again until you've got the flip down."

They went back to the hotel together. Riding up in the elevator, he said, "A couple of the guys and I are going to a bar tonight, wanna come?"

"Sure," Eve found herself accepting before really thinking about it. Well, at least they wouldn't be going out just the two of them.

They got off the elevator, Eve first. She looked up and yelled, "What the fuck?!"

A dark-haired skinny man was leaving her hotel room and he was carrying a suspiciously-shaped sack. His head jerked around when Eve yelled and a second later he started running in the opposite direction. Eve and Jeff started running after him.

Eve's cry had alerted the wrestlers in their room and some of them stuck their heads out into the hallway to see what was going on.

At the other end of the hallway was another set of elevators. The doors to one opened and Tajiri and his girlfriend, Terri, stepped off together. Tajiri took in the situation at a quick glance and caught the intruder with a boot to the face.

Jeff got to them before Eve did and grabbed the sack. Houdini was inside and when Jeff pulled his head out, Eve went ballistic.

"You son of a bitch!" she screamed and began kicking him in his side, managing to kick him three times before someone grabbed her waist and hauled her away from the man lying on his back, with her kicking air and screaming curses at him.

  
  


The police were called to come arrest the man, whose name was Victor Hargreaves. He'd confessed to taking the snake - with the evidence against him, why bother trying to deny it? - saying he'd wanted the snake for breeding because snakes that color were worth a lot.

Hearing his name, Eve remembered that the man had contacted her a few months back trying to buy Houdini off her.

One of the policemen that had stayed behind to take statements told Eve that Victor would do time for the break and enter, attempted theft of a valuable animal, animal endangerment, plus would have to pay a fine. Eve wouldn't need to testify, which was lucky considering that she didn't know far in advance when she would be available.

Eve changed her mind about going out that night and Jeff decided to stay with her. They ordered room service and watched a few movies.

After that incident, Eve brought Houdini to the arenas with her and asked someone to watch him when she went out.


	11. Houdini Strikes Again

CHAPTER ELEVEN: HOUDINI STRIKES AGAIN  
  
  


"Dammit! Eve!" The Undertaker's bellow echoed down the hallways.

*Well, that answers that question,* Eve thought as she ran out of her dressing room. She'd discovered just moments ago that Houdini was not in his cage and a quick, frantic search of the room had not turned him up.

"God, I'm so sorry, 'Taker," Eve said, partially out of breath as she arrived at the door to the man's dressing room. "I don't know how he got out of the dressing room."

Undertaker just stared at her hard for a second before sighing an angry, scary sigh. "It's on the couch," he bit out.

Eve could feel 'Taker eyeing her the whole time she walked in to get Houdini. Kane was standing off to one side. She said, "Hi," and he nodded to her.

With Houdini in her possession, Eve slunk past 'Taker with her gaze lowered. RVD was out in the hallway, smirking.

"Better keep a closer eye on that snake of yours. If I find it in my dressing room, you're never gonna see it again."

'Taker wasn't very happy with Eve right now, but he wasn't about to stand around and let her be intimidated by that pig. "Why don't you get out of here, you little weasel," he said in his best intimidating tone, stepping up beside Eve. Rob opened his mouth to say something when Kane moved to Eve's other side. Rob stood there with his mouth hanging open a few seconds before he thought to close it. While he was crazy enough to take on one of these men, he wasn't stupid enough to tackle both of them at the same time. He left.

Eve looked to the two men. "Thanks, guys." She wondered what Rob's problem was. Ever since her last battle with Stacy Keibler, when he'd slammed her in the back with the Hardcore belt, he'd taken to harassing her and interfering in her matches - he'd been at a house show the night of her match with Lita, which was why he hadn't interfered then. Rob was becoming a real problem for her, yet she'd pretty much had nothing to do with him since she'd started wrestling here. Maybe it had something to do with Stacy. Those two seemed to be hooking up and it could be the reason RVD seemed to be gunning for her.

Later that night RVD had a match against the Rock. He walked down to the ring with Stacy on his arm.

Rock was doing well in the match until Stacy began to interfere, distracting the referee when he had the pin on Rob and attacking him whenever she could get away with it. Rock lost the match when Stacy nailed him with a chair to the face and Rob was there to pin him.

So Eve wasn't the only one on their hit list.


	12. Double On the Rocks, Bottoms Up

CHAPTER TWELVE: DOUBLE ON THE ROCKS, BOTTOMS UP  
  
  


One month later on Raw...

"I am so sick of those two!" Eve complained, punching a wall.

"Easy, babe," Jeff said. "You don't want to be out on medical leave 'cause of a broken hand."

Eve turned to him, frustrated tears falling from her eyes. She fell into his arms. "It's not fair!"

Stacy and RVD had struck again. Eve had finally gotten her rematch against Jacqueline and those two ass clowns had come down to the ring and had her match disqualified. Damn them! She and Rock seemed to be the only two constantly plagued by this Alliance pair and Eve was really getting fed up with their crap.

After a few minutes of Eve crying on Jeff's shoulder, a knock came at Eve's dressing room door. Jeff got up to answer it while Eve tried to wipe her tears away with the heels of her hands.

It was the Rock. "Hey, Eve, I just came to see how you're doing."

"Lousy," was Eve's short reply.

"Well, I've got an idea that just might make you feel better, a way to get back at those two." Eve listened intently as Rock outlined his plan.

An inter-gender tag team match, Rock and Eve against RVD and Stacy, with stipulations. No disqualifications, for one, and if Eve and Rock won, Stacy and RVD could never bother them again or they'd both be suspended. If Stacy and RVD won, then Eve and Rock would do nothing more to stop their torment. It was a risk the two were willing to take.

Rock, once he had Eve's agreement, went down to ringside and called Rob and Stacy out so that he could challenge them to the inter-gender tag team match, saying he and Eve were tired of their childish pranks and sneaky tactics.

Stacy and Rob accepted the terms and the match was on.  
  


Smackdown...

Jeff, Matt, and Lita kept Eve company while she stretched in her dressing room, preparing for that all-important match that would take place shortly. They wanted to make sure that neither of Eve's opponents could attack and possibly injure her before the match.

"Jeff, how are you doing with those aerial flips?" Eve asked, trying to distract herself from what was soon to come.

"I can do it with enough altitude," he replied, "but I still can't make it from the top turnbuckle."

"You may end up having to use it as an extreme high-flying move only," Eve thought out loud. "From the top turnbuckle to the floor outside the ring, from on top of a ladder, that sort of thing."

It wouldn't give Jeff as many chances to use the circle of destiny as he wanted, but it would have to do. Meanwhile, his eyes closely followed Eve's movements as she performed amazing acts of flexibility. He thanked God that his pants were baggy because he was becoming aroused from all the ideas he was getting from watching Eve.

Lita and Matt could see a slight blush rise in Jeff"s cheeks and noted that he subtly covered his groin area. It was killing them that they had promised Jeff they wouldn't interfere between him and Eve. Those two would be so good together! If only they'd hurry up the pace a little.

Rock came to Eve's dressing room when it was time for their match. The cameras would be on them for a bit as they walked to the curtain and they had planned on walking together, except down to the ring. Then, they would go separately - Eve first - so that both their theme musics would be played.  
  


Five minutes into the match and all hell had broken loose. The referee was unconscious - a power slam from Rob when the referee had only done a two count of Rob's last pin on the Rock - and all four wrestlers were in the ring.

Eve and Rock whipped Stacy and Rob toward each other. They crashed into each other in the centre of the ring, falling flat to the canvas.

Another referee ran down to ringside just as Stacy and RVD started trying to get to their feet. Rock took up his stance for the rock bottom and Eve copied him. Together they performed the rock bottom and then the people's elbow in perfect sync with each other. They each pinned an opponent and waited as the referee counted to three and sounded the bell. Yes! They had won.


	13. A New Hardcore Champion

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A NEW HARDCORE CHAMPION  
  
  
  


Eve was lifting weights in the arena gym the next day, being spotted by Jeff again, when Trish Stratus came in and walked over to her.  


"Hey, Eve," Trish said, sitting on the vacant bench next to her. Jeff spared Trish a quick glance before returning his gaze to Eve and her straining muscles.  
  
"Hi, Trish. What's up?"  


Trish had broken off her affair with Vince over six weeks ago with a very public slap to his face. Since then, Trish had become a much nicer person and had made up with many of her coworkers, including Eve. Jeff was still a little wary of her, though. She'd tried to seduce him before she'd gotten with Vince and it hadn't worked out. He was worried about her trying again. If she did, it could shatter the growing trust that Eve had for him.

  
  


"Good match last night," Trish complimented. "The way you and Rocky nailed those two was wonderful."  


"Thanks," Eve replied with a smile. She finished her set and put the weights back on the bracing hooks. She sat up and Jeff handed her the white towel hanging around his neck. "But you didn't seek me out for that."  


"Word has it that with Chyna out for so long, the Women's title is coming up for grabs, likely at Survivor."  
  
"And what?" Eve asked with curiosity. "Are you looking to set up a match between us for the Women's title?"  
  
"I'd like to, but I think Vince has bigger plans than that. Some kind of tournament-style with the best contenders from our side and the Alliance, if my guess is right."  


Eve's interest was really peaked now. "Whatever it is, maybe we can both get in on it." A shot at the Women's title...  
  
  


A few days later on Raw...  
  
Rob Van Dam had a Hardcore title match against Kane and won. As he walked from ring, sore but triumphant, he was attacked by a whirlwind of fury looking to get a little of her own back after all the trouble he'd caused her.  
  
Eve thought about getting revenge on Rob all weekend. Knowing he had a Hardcore match on Raw, knowing he'd be sore and an easier target than usual, she'd been unable to pass up the opportunity to knock him senseless.  


When the time was right, Eve came running at RVD and slammed a metal chair in his face. When he was down, Eve followed up with a few more bangs all about his body and a kick to his crotch.  
  
The referee from RVD and Kane's match came running up the ramp from the ring and Eve had a sudden though. A Hardcore match only needed two wrestlers and a referee, didn't need an arrangement for a match. That's how RVD had gotten the title in the first place, by attacking after a match. If he could do it, so could she. There was no rule saying that a woman couldn't hold the Hardcore title.  


With a count of three, the Hardcore title was Eve's. She'd just won the first belt of her career her, plus her entrance into competing against the men.  
  
  


"You're certifiable, you know that?" Jeff stated more than asked. "Anyone could attack you at any time, as long as a referee's around."  


"Jeff, I know that," Eve said calmly, trying to soothe his agitation. "I thought about it right before I pinned RVD."  
  
Eve's calm tone only served to agitate Jeff more. He paced, stopped, opened his mouth, closed it, and began pacing again. Eve snagged his arm and stopped him, then grabbed his other arm and turned him to face her.  
  
"I may be a woman," Eve began. Jeff snorted, looking her up and down, telling her without words that he wasn't in any doubt of that fact. "I may be a woman," Eve repeated, "but I'm a lot tougher than most other women here. I don't fight the bitch cat way that most of them do, I fight like the men."  
  
"I just don't wanna see you get hurt."  
  
"Jeff, this is an occupation that you can't avoid getting hurt in. You of all people should know that." Eve allowed herself to give in to temptation and wrapped her arms around Jeff's waist. "Things will be okay, you'll see."  


Jeff stood paralyzed for a brief moment, almost unwilling to believe that Eve had initiated this contact. Overcoming his stupefaction, he brought his arms up and wrapped them securely around Eve's shoulders, squeezing gently. Slowly, bit by bit, she was coming to trust him. He wished he could kiss her now, but if he did he was worried that it could set their relationship back a long way. As hard as it was for him, he knew that he'd have to wait until Eve kissed him. Dammit!  



	14. Bloody Hell

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BLOODY HELL  
  
  
  


Rob Van Dam had gone crying to William Regal over what Eve had done to him, whining about how embarrassing it was to have a girl take the Hardcore title from him when he'd managed to hold it for so long against people like Big Show, Kane, and the Undertaker. Regal gave him a rematch for the next Smackdown.  


When the word came to Eve and Team Xtreme, Jeff was understandably worried. He knew RVD would be looking to punish Eve for the humiliation he'd suffered on Raw. Jeff wanted Eve's permission to go down to ringside during the match and rough Rob up a bit. It wouldn't be illegal because anything goes in a Hardcore match. Eve's answer was, of course, a firm no.  
  


  
  
  


When Eve went down to ringside for her match with RVD, she grabbed trash cans, lids, metal chairs, and stop signs and tossed them into the ring before she got in. RVD watched her, occasionally stepping out of the way of a flying projectile.

When the ring was littered with pain-causing foreign objects, Eve finally got in. She was determined to win this match. If she could, then it would most certainly prove that she could handle herself in tough situations.

Rob charged at her the very instant the bell rang, trying to deliver a flying drop kick. Eve had been expecting something like this and dove to the side. Rob ended up between the top and middle turnbuckles, his legs divided by the post and his eyes bulging out and crossed in pain. He fell over and slid out of the position. Eve got up and started kicking Rob in the head.  
  
  
  


Backstage, Jeff's eyes remained glued to the screen as RVD got up and he and Eve started pounding on each other with the stuff in the ring. Rob grabbed a stop sign and aimed it at Eve's head, catching her with a point and opening up a bloody gash in her forehead.  
  
Jeff felt like he was about to pass out. Usually, the sight of blood didn't bother him, but because it was Eve's blood, he found it difficult to stand the sight.  
  
  
  
  


Blood pouring freely down her face, Eve suplexed RVD from the top rope to the exposed concrete floor below, nearly passing out from all the pain she was in. Somehow, she found enough strength to roll herself over onto her opponent before she completely blacked out.  
  
Paramedics quickly brought two stretchers to ringside and wheeled them both away.  


Eve was lying on her side in a hospital bed when she finally opened her eyes. A purple-haired head was pillowed on arms near her waist. "Jeff?" she asked quietly. He didn't move and his breathing remained deep and eve. Sleeping. She must have been out for several hours then. All night, she quickly realized when she notice sunlight streaming into the room.  
  
She must've had one hell of a head wound to have been out all night. Jeff, that sweet sensitive man, had stayed with her. She put a hand on his head and idly toyed with his hair, thinking about how he deserved someone better than her. Sure, they were slowly growing closer, but Eve always held a part of herself back. Yet it could be no other way, at least not until her past had been resolved and she told Jeff her deep, dark secret. That couldn't happen, not now, maybe not for a long time to come.  


Eve could hear the door open and turned her head carefully to see who it was. Lita.  
  
Lita's face lit up when she saw Eve wide awake and looking at her. "Hey-"  
  
"Shhh. Jeff's sleeping."  


"He hasn't been asleep very long, then. He was still awake when Matt and I left less than two hours ago so we could shower, change, and get something to eat." Lita came around to the other side of the bed so Eve wouldn't have to keep looking over her shoulder.  
  
"Where's Matt?"  
  
"Getting some coffee. He should be here shortly."  


"Timmy's?" Eve asked hopefully.  


"Nope, just regular hospital coffee. Besides," Lita smiled, "he's not bringing any for you. We weren't sure if you'd be awake, but I'm glad you are."  


"Me, too."  


"Me, three," Jeff murmured, not bothering to lift his head but instead searching blindly with a hand to find one of Eve's, interlacing his finders with hers when he did.  
  
Eve thought he kept his head down because he was tired. That was partly true. The other reason - the much bigger one - was that he didn't want her to see the tears flowing from his eyes. As long as he didn't look at Eve with her bandaged forehead, he could keep himself composed enough so that he wouldn't start breaking out into gut-wrenching sobs.

Seeing Eve unconscious and bloody had been hell for him, but he would have to get used to seeing her in these Hardcore matches as long as she held the Hardcore belt.  


Eve frowned for a moment, thinking back to last night and the Hardcore match with RVD. "Hey, Lita?"  
  
"Yeah?" she asked, sitting in a chair by the wall.  
  
"Did I win the match lat night?"  


"Yep. Rob's pissed, though. You shoulda heard him when he walked out of here last night."  


Jeff"s fingers tightened on Eve's and he made a choking sound. So much for composure.  


Both women looked at Jeff in consternation as he began to shake with sobs. They'd never seen him cry, except for a few tears squeezed out after a particularly painful injury.  


Lita knew these two had some issues to sort out and left them in peace, shutting the door behind her and standing close by to make sure no one else disturbed them.  


Eve sat up, fighting some dizziness and nausea, and moved down the bed. One hand still lay tangled with Jeff's while the other cupped the back of his head. She let him cry himself out, using her free hand to rub the back and top of his head and along the back of his shoulders.  


Jeff finally lifted his head. His face was wet and flushed from crying and his eyes were a little puffy. He tried to speak but no sounds came out.  


"Shhh," Eve whispered. She pulled Jeff closer to her and hugged him, feeling him shudder a few more times as he took in deep breaths. She couldn't resist laying a kiss on the top of his head.  
  
Jeff looked up in surprise when he felt Eve's lips on his hair. He looked deep into her eyes and couldn't resist kissing her. To hell with the consequences.  


Eve savored the slight salty taste of Jeff's lips, as eager as Jeff in sharing this intimate caress. She was tired of pushing him away, keeping him at arm's length. Tired of not being able to surrender herself to him as she so much wanted to do.

If only Eve could tell Jeff about her past, then none of this suffering would be necessary. But she couldn't. Not now, maybe not ever. But she wasn't thinking about that depressing thought now, she was concentrating on Jeff and his erotic kissing as his tongue invaded her mouth.  
  
When they ran out of oxygen, their lips parted.  
  
"Wow," was the first word that came to Jeff's lips.  
  
"Yeah," Eve replied as she brushed the hair out of Jeff's face.  
  
"Eve, I know you have your demons to face," Jeff began seriously, "and I respect that you want to face them on your own, but I want you to know that you don't have to do it alone because I'm here for you no matter what. I know this probably isn't the best time for me to say this, but I love you. I think I have since the first time I looked into your gorgeous eyes and ran into my brother."  
  
Eve laughed at the memory. She sobered quickly, though. "Jeff, I want to tell you that I love you back, but-"  
  
Jeff pressed his fingertips to Eve's lips, stopping the flow of words. "Eve, I told you I love you because I honestly feel that way and I am free to say it. I don't expect you to declare your feelings for me until you're free of whatever it is in your past that's still got a hold on you. Besides, I know the feelings are there."  


They sat in companionable silence for a few more moments, feeling more at peace with each other tha they had in a long time.  


"Maybe you should go let Lita back in," Eve finally spoke. Matt could be back by now with the coffee."


	15. Stay Or Go?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: STAY OR GO?  
  
  
  


As Survivor Series 2001 approached, Eve and Jeff grew even closer but she still didn't tell him that she loved him. Jeff didn't mention it to her again, not wanting to cause her any undue stress.  


Eve managed to hold onto the Hardcore title - much to Jeff's dismay - and was likely to be slated for a Hardcore match then, which meant she wouldn't be a part of the six pack challenge for the Women's Championship title - Trish had been right about it coming available at Survivor Series 2001. Six women - three from the WWF and three from the WCW/ECW Alliance - would battle it out for the belt. Vince's three had already been chosen, Trish among them. Eve was happy for her.  
  
Another big match - perhaps the biggest in the history of the WWF - was the main event match. Five of the best men from each side would compete in an elimination match. The outcome would decide which federation would stay open. Wrestlers would lose their jobs, but which ones? Some from the losing side were sure to be hired to the other side, those thought to be "pick of the litter." In other words, the best money makers.  
  
In this time of uncertainty, many considered which side was more likely to win, considering the talents involved. Those wrestlers that thought the other side might win seriously thought about switching their allegiance before Survivor arrived. Eve, Jeff, Matt, and Lita were among them.  


The four sat in the men's hotel suite eating Chinese take-out, discussing the possibility of switching sides.  
  
"If we stay where we are and our side loses, we'll have to go crawling to the other side for jobs later," Lita stated. The others nodded in agreement.  


"Especially me," Eve said. "I've been approached a few times by Heyman about changing sides and turned him down flat. He'll use it against me."  


"You didn't tell me that," Jeff said, turning to look at Eve."  


"Didn't think it was necessary. I just laughed in the man's face and told him I was happy where I was, thank you very much. Last time he asked, I told him where he could stick his contract - and it wasn't his ass I'm talking about."  
  
Jeff caught her meaning and crossed his legs.  


"That doesn't matter now," Matt spoke up. "It's in the past. They'll probably still want you, Eve, but they might make you pay for the insult. The three of us haven't been approached, though."  
  
Jeff frowned for a moment, thinking, then said, "They'll have to keep on anyone with belts."  


"Which could be none of us after Survivor," Eve was quick to point out. "Even so, that leaves Lita out. You guys have the tag team match against the Dudleys and you'll have the belts again if you win. I might win the Hardcore match if I get one then. But Lita's not in the six pack and all the other titles are tied up in Survivor matches."  
  
"Well, its a thought, anyway," Lita said. "If Matt and Jeff get the tag team belts, I might be able to get in with them 'cause we're a team."  


"Why are we assuming that the Alliance is going to win this thing?" Matt asked suddenly. "Our side has an equal if not better chance of winning this thing. Look who we've got in the ring - Big Show, Kane, Undertaker, Rock and Jericho. We have the three biggest guys in the business. Sure, size doesn't always mean much, but it definitely gives our side an edge over the competition."  


"But anything can happen when stakes are this high. Who's got the pork?" Jeff asked.  
  
The others looked in the various open cartons around them. Eve found what Jeff wanted and passed it to him. "Chicken fried rice?" Jeff passed her one by his knee.  


Lita traded her spare ribs for Matt's moo goo gai pan. She took a mouthful, chewed, and swallowed it before speaking. "If we go to the alliance now and they lose, it'll be twice as hard for us to get back into the WWF than waiting, having our side lose, then going to the Alliance to beg for jobs."  
  
"So we're staying, then?" Jeff bit into a juicy piece of pork.  
  
They all thought about it for a moment. It was an important decision. In the end they all said yes.  


"Let's just hope we don't have to go back to wrestling indies."


	16. Old and New Friends Meet

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: OLD AND NEW FRIENDS MEET  
  
  
  


Two days left until Survivor Series 2001. People were nervous, edgy, and worried about the outcome of this PPV event. Eve was, too, but she took a break from it to greet Dee and Derek when they flew into town.  


Dee had told Eve to wait at her hotel for her and Derek and they'd rent a car - they didn't want Eve getting mobbed at the airport by fans.  


Waiting in her room with Jeff, Matt, and Lita, Eve paced nervously while the other three watched her from where each was sitting. After watching her for a few minutes, they decided to intervene. Jeff and Lita got up and each grabbed on of her shoulders. "Come on," Lita said. "You're making us dizzy." Together they led her over to the bed and sat her down.  


"Yeah, what are you so worried about?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Are you scared we're gonna embarrass you?"  
  
Eve's jaw dropped and she looked in shock at Matt to find him smiling. The wretch had been teasing her!  


Eve took a deep breath before she spoke. "I haven't seen Dee since a few months before I got my contract with the WWF. She told me she had a big surprise for me. Dee's surprises usually involve getting me into trouble." *Plus, she's late.*  


Dee and Derek arrived nearly an hour later. When the knock finally came, Eve jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it wide. They yelled, they cried, they hugged - all with Matt, Jeff, and Lita looking on.  
  
Eve pulled the pair into the room and shut the door. "God, you two look great! It's so good to see you!"  


"Well, look at you, miss big bad Hardcore Champion. I can't believe you're still dyeing your hair!"  


"You dye your hair?" Jeff asked with interest.  


Eve introduced Dee and Derek to Jeff, Matt, and Lita. That done, Jeff asked Dee, "So what's Eve's natural hair colour?"

"It's-" Dee's words became muffled as Eve clapped a hand over her mouth.  


"None of your business," Eve finished. When she took her hand away from Dee's mouth, she asked, "So what's your big surprise that you couldn't tell me about over the phone?"  


Dee opened her trench coat wide and announced, "I'm pregnant!"  


Eve was ecstatic. "How far along?" She eyed the slight bulge of Dee's stomach.  


"Almost five months. I waited to tell you until now because I wanted to do it in person. Derek and I want you to be the godmother."  
  
Eve accepted with enthusiasm.  
  
  
  
Jeff saw little of Eve the next two days, who was busy catching up with her old friends. The six of them - him, Eve, Matt, Lita, Dee and Derek - went out Saturday, despite Dee's protests about mobbing fans. People did approach the four wrestlers for autographs and pictures, but they weren't as bad as Dee had thought they'd be.  


All too fast for Eve, the weekend was coming to a close. It had been so long since she'd seen Dee and Derek and they'd soon be gone again.  


Sunday morning dawned warm and sunny. Eve went to get Dee and Derek and go down to the restaurant for breakfast and found Jeff, Matt, and Lita already there and sitting in a U-shaped booth. She slid in next to Jeff and he briefly pulled her close to his side, dropping a kiss on her cheek.  


Dee watched the scene with interest as she slid in beside Matt, her husband sitting next to her after that. She'd been noticing this sort of thing between Eve and Jeff whenever the two had been together this weekend - constant touching and affectionate looks between her best friend and this rainbow-haired wrestler.  
  
"So, Eve," Derek said, breaking to moment, "you never mentioned who your match was against tonight."  
  
Eve looked away from Jeff to answer. "I don't know yet. Vince will make the announcement tonight right before my match."  


"Any thoughts on who it'll be?" Dee asked.  


"Someone from the Alliance, I think. All the other matches are WWF/Alliance. One of the toughest men that isn't tied up in the final battle, for sure, and likely not anyone else that's up tonight, either."  


"Tazz doesn't have a match tonight," Lita said, "and he's pretty good."  
  
"I don't know," Matt replied. "With the crap Austin's put him through recently, he might be thinking of switching back to our side."  


"But for the moment at least, he is still part of the Alliance. We can't leave him out," Jeff said as he hailed a passing waiter.  
  
Jeff got menus for Eve, Dee, and Derek and, after these three had ordered, the group discussion had once again turned to the list of possible opponents Eve might be facing tonight.  


"Well, Eve, if you end up having to face Tazz, tell him I said his haircut looks like a woman's bikini wax," Dee put in. Jeff choked on his drink, Lita sprayed a mouthful of hers out, and everyone turned to look at Dee.  


Dee looked embarrassed from all the stares she was getting. "Well, it does," she mumbled under her breath.  
  
  


"Good luck tonight," Dee said to Eve, pulling her close for a hug. "You guys, too." Dee hugged Matt, Jeff, and Lita. Derek hugged Eve and shook the others' hands.  
  
Dee stepped back to admire the picture the four wrestlers made together and couldn't help the tears that began to fill her eyes.  
  
"Dee, you okay?" Eve asked.  


Derek moved to his wife's side and put an arm around her shoulders. He looked to the others and mouthed the word, 'hormones.'  
  
"I'm sorry, you guys," Dee said between tears and sobs, "It just that you all look so good together and I'm getting fatter an-and I j-just wanna thank you guys for l-looking after Eve..."  


Dee's next couple of words made no sense whatsoever and she just gave up and buried her face in her husband's shoulder. It was a bit disconcerting to face this Dee when the other one had been pretty much normal all weekend.  


"Don't worry," Derek said. "She's pregnant and very hormonal. She can change her mood in two seconds flat." As if on cue, Dee lifted her head and punched Derek in the shoulder. He just laughed and said, "You see?"  
  
"We gotta be heading in now," Matt said soon.  
  
"I'll see you after the show," Eve told Dee and Derek.


	17. Who Will Survive?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: WHO WILL SURVIVE?  
  
  
  


On Sunday Night Heat, the Alliance announced their third candidate for the women's six pack match - Mighty Molly. Molly Holly had unexpectedly defected to the Alliance and become Hurricane Helms's sidekick. She looked as stupid in her pink cape as Helms did in his green one. Poor Spike.  
  
Molly's defection left a spot open in the WWF's roster, which was promptly filled by Lita. She'd end up coming close to winning, but Trish would come away with the belt.  


Jeff and Matt's steel cage tag team match with the Dudleys soon followed.  


"Good luck," Eve said the Team Xtreme as they were about the head off to the ramp for their match. "And Jeff, try not to do too many swantons off the top of the cage, please."  


"I offer no guarantees, babe, but I promise I'll try."  
  
It was those words later on that made Jeff pause while he was standing on the top of the steel cage, staring down a the scene of Bubba Ray Dudley laid out perfectly on a table. Excellent set up for a swanton bomb. Once he nailed it, pinning Bubba for the win would be a snap. But that promise... He looked down at Matt, who was standing outside the ring and screaming at him to get down, then he looked back to Bubba. After a few seconds more of thought, Jeff made his decision. He climbed down and joined his brother outside the ring.  


The Hardy Boyz were Tag Team Champions once again.  
  
  


Eve went down to ringside with her head held high and looking confident. No one in the audience knew how nervous she truly was. She'd pissed off quite a few men from the Alliance since she'd gotten the Hardcore title, having beaten every single one she'd come up against so far.  


When Vince got into the ring, Eve gave him a wide berth while he strutted his stuff and warmed up the crowd to get them eager for his announcement. Lita's first guess was correct - Eve would be facing Tazz.  
  
Tazz came to ringside with a black fringed towel on his head that made him look like a chubby Jamaican. He grabbed a microphone and headed into the ring, tossing the towel carelessly aside.  
  
"Don't worry, baby, I'll try not to hurt you too badly in our little match tonight."  
  
Eve's eyebrows shot up into her hair line. She motioned for her own microphone. "Baby? Puh-lease! And I think you should be the one worried about getting hurt, Tazzy boy. I've beaten every single man that's challenged me for this belt and sent them away with their tails between their legs. I don't think you'll be any different." Eve went to return the microphone and Tazz smiled widely like he wasn't taking her seriously.  
  
Eve noticed Dee and Derek in the audience and had a thought. Instead of handing the microphone off to someone outside the ring, she raised it and spoke again. "Before we get things started here, Tazz, there's a little something I want to get off my mind. A friend of mine pointed something out to me earlier today about you and I can't help thinking how right she was about it."  
  
  


Backstage in the room where all the WWF wrestlers that weren't fighting or had already fought had gathered to watch the outcome of the main event, Team Xtreme looked on in concern.  


"She wouldn't," Matt said.  
  
"She would," Jeff and Lita replied.  
  
  


"Your haircut looks like you gave your head a woman's bikini wax. I guess that makes you a pussy!" Eve threw the microphone up into the air as Tazz roared in outrage and charged at her.  
  
It was a bloody battle - literally - but Eve won it with her snakesplitter, which wasn't easy to put around Tazz's thick waist. When the bell sounded, everyone cheered and chants of, "Tazz is a pussy," could be heard.  


Eve headed backstage for a quick patch up job from the doc, then went to the gathering room to watch the final match with the others.  


"You are insane!" Jeff said when she entered. He got up and gave her his seat.  
  
"Takes one the know one," Eve replied flippantly. She took the offered seat. "So how does it feel having that thing back around your waist?" Eve tapped the Tag Team belt Jeff wore with an index finger.  


"Excellent!"  
  
  


The final match was soon down to just the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Big Show, Kane, and Undertaker had been eliminated and were now in the gathering room with the others. Jericho had been eliminated right after Kurt Angle and was now walking up the ramp. He suddenly turned and headed back into the ring, striking Rocky in the head with the WCW Championship belt.  


"That dumb little motherfucker!" Undertaker swore and fled the room, Kane hot on his heels. Undertaker appeared on the monitor quickly, but not Kane - the latter must be waiting for when he might really be needed - and started teaching Jericho a lesson. He dragged him backstage and the match continued.  


Austin nearly had the match won when an unexpected thing happened: Angle entered the ring and hit Austin in the face with Rock's Championship belt. He ducked out and tossed the belt away before the referee got up and saw what he'd been up to. Rock got the pin on Austin shortly after and won the match.  
  
  


"God, that was wonderful!" Dee exclaimed later when she and Derek met up with Eve.  
  
"Which part?" Eve asked.  
  
"All of it!"  
  
Eve laughed. "Come on, lets go back to the hotel and get some sleep."


	18. A Flair For Confidences

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: A FLAIR FOR CONFIDENCES  
  
  
  


Monday night Raw is War the next night...  
  
"...when Stephanie and Shane sold their WWF stock to the consortium, that the consortium was ME! WOOOO!"  


Vince McMahon had just gotten the shock of his life - in public, no less - by finding out just now that he and Linda had a new business partner in Rick Flair, one of his retired wrestlers. Rick Flair owned half of the WWF corporation.  
  
Strange. Flair had had that stock in his possession for many months now and this was the first time he'd done something about it. Amazing - the timing, that is. Flair had waited until they had come to his home town - where his popularity would be the greatest this long after his retirement from wrestling - to announce himself. So it was a lucky coincidence that Raw was in his hometown the night right after Survivor.  
  
  


Rick Flair went backstage after his big announcement to look things over and meet some of the wrestlers. Sometimes he longed for the good old days when he used to wrestle with people like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and the other wrestlers that had been around at the same time as he had been. But then he reminded himself that things could never again be as they were. Besides, who would have ever dreamed - including himself - that one day he'd own a full half of the company he used to fight for?  
  
"So they made it to the plane okay?"  
  
"Yeah, barely. Dee started crying just before they were supposed to board and she didn't want to let me go."  


Rick Flair's head turned at the sound of two women's voices. Seconds later, Lita and Eve came around a corner in the hallway. They stopped when they saw him.  


"Ladies," Flair said in a friendly tone as he began to approach them. They met him half way.  


"Mr. Flair," they both said in turn as each shook his hand.  


"It sure is a pleasure to meet you two beautiful ladies," he began, stopping when he looked into Eve's eyes.  
  
"Is there something wrong, sir?" Eve asked as he continued to stare at her.  
  
"I apologize for my rude behaviour, Eve. It's just that, for a second, I thought I recognized you from somewhere. Have we met before?"  


"I don't think so, sir, unless you watch wrestling indies. I've been through here before when I was still in them."  


Eve came away from the encounter somewhat disturbed and trying her best to hide it. Flair recognized her? Not good.

"Well, that was strange," Lita said when their new boss was well out of ear-shot.  
  
"Yeah, strange."  
  
  


Eve thought hard for two days before making up her mind to go see Rick Flair. If he truly recognized her from where she thought he did, then she needed to find out now before he fully remembered where he'd seen her face before and possible blurted it out in front of someone else. That would be disastrous. So Wednesday afternoon found Eve standing outside Rick Flair's office. She raised her hand and knocked.  
  
"Come in."  


Eve opened the door and entered, closing the door behind her when she was inside.  


"Ah, Miss Eve, what can I do for you?"  


"Sir, we need to talk."  
  
  


"So you understand my need for secrecy, then?" Eve asked a short time later.  
  
"Of course. Don't worry, no one will hear about this from me," Rick Flair said.  


"Thank you, sir. You don't know how much I appreciate this."


	19. Too Close For Comfort

CHAPTER NINETEEN: TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT

  
  
  
  


Eve could rest easy knowing that Rick Flair would keep her secret, but she soon found something else to worry over - Christmas. It was little over a month away and one of her Team Xtreme friends was sure to ask what her plans for the holidays were. They couldn't know from the little she'd told them that she never saw her parents, couldn't until she could go to them with undeniable proof that she'd been right about herself. Maybe not even then. It had been so long, maybe it was too late for her to mend things with them.

Then another disaster hit. The wrestlers were gathered together after Smackdown for an announcement - the Centennial Garden Arena in Bakersfield, California, where the December 27 episode of Smackdown was supposed to be pre-taped on December 21, had burned down, so they were scrambling to find a new place to hold it. That in of itself was no big deal (no one had been harmed when the arena had been destroyed), but then everyone was brought together for the next announcement - where the last Smackdown of the year would be held. Phoenix, Arizona. Where her parents lived. It was only a matter of time before Jeff, Matt, or Lita started asking questions.

Eve considered lying to them, but she didn't see how she could do that now. With all she'd been through with them - especially Jeff - she didn't think that she could abuse the trust of their friendship that way. What was she going to do?

One thing had Eve looking forward to the whole mess - the fact that Dee and Derek lived there, too, close enough for Eve to be able to stay with them.

  
  


Jeff noticed Eve acting strangely following the announcement that the year's last Smackdown would take place in her hometown. She didn't seem pleased and he couldn't help wondering why. Could this have something to do with her parents? Sure, she'd said her father wasn't happy in her choice of careers - that's all she'd mentioned about her family, come to think of it - but surely he hadn't held it against her all these years. Whether that was the case or not, Eve wasn't talking - as usual.

At Vengeance, almost two full weeks before they were scheduled to be in Phoenix, Arizona, Vince set Eve up for a Hardcore match with the Big Show. Hard as she tried, Eve's moves were no match for the giant man and she was pinned in less than ten minutes.

Backstage, where Eve couldn't hear, Jeff said, "Can't say I'm sorry to see the back of that belt." Of course he'd neve say that to Eve's face. He'd end up being even happier when she didn't get a rematch.

Flair was quick on the heels of Eve's defeat to give her a Women's title shot. Eve was happy about it until she learned that the match would take place in her home town. Like she needed the added stress of a title shot on top of everything else. She was still waiting for Jeff or one of the others to ask her about her vacation plans. She didn't know that Jeff had warned them off the subject.

Dee sent an invitation through Eve for Jeff, Matt, And Lita to stay at her home while they were in town for the Smackdown event. They were happy to accept, looking forward to staying in something besides a hotel for the first time in a long time (not counting their homes in Cameron, North Carolina, of course).

  
  


Late on the night of December 21, 2001...

Jeff and Eve sat up front in a rental van talking quietly while Matt and Lita were cuddled up in the seat behind them, sleeping.

Eve was trying her best to forget the fact that her parents lived less than an hour's drive from Dee and Derek. She hadn't been this close to them in over a year. Before it hadn't been such a big deal, but now she had three friends with her that she didn't want knowing about the sad state of her relationship with her parents. She was trying her hardest to hide her stress and act like she normally would but it wasn't easy. She thought she was successfully pulling it off because none of the three had looked at her strangely or said anything about her behaviour being any different.

Jeff had noticed the changes that Eve was trying to hide, though it wasn't easy. He was only able to sense them because he was so aware of Eve all the time. Just a few days ago at the wrestlers' Christmas party, he'd gone ahead without Eve at her insistence. He'd sensed the very moment that Eve made her entrance and turned to look. She'd made an incredibly gorgeous picture in her long silver-sequined gown - low-cut in the front, backless, and a slit up one side almost all the way up to her hip - and her shiny black hair falling loosely about her shoulders.

"Turn left there," Eve said, pointing out the window at the next street. When Jeff had turned, she said, "It's the fourth house on the right."

"Pretty big," Jeff commented as he pulled up to the iron bars gate.

"You should see it in the daylight," Eve said as Jeff rolled down the window and pressed a button on the intercom box. Eve removed her seat belt and leaned over across Jeff's lap as Derek answered the buzz.

"Hello?"

"It's us, Derek," Eve called into the mechanical device.

"Hey, Eve. Come on in. Third garage has been cleared for you to park in."

"'Kay, see you in a few."

There was a loud buzz and the gates swung open. Jeff drove up to the garage and Eve got out to open the door. Jeff removed his seatbelt and reached into the back seat to shake Matt awake. "We're here, bro."

Matt drowsily opened his eyes and rubbed Lita's shoulder to wake her up.

Derek came out to help them with their bags, telling Eve that Dee had gone to bed a few hours ago.

Matt and Lita were put in a room together, dropping their bags on the floor, kicking off their shoes, and falling into the king-size bed almost the moment they walked in. Eve got the bedroom that was usually hers whenever she came to visit and Jeff was placed into the room next to hers.

"See you tomorrow," Eve said to the two men as she closed the bedroom door.

  
  


The next morning Jeff went down to the kitchen, padding softly on bare feet. Before he was about to push open the swinging door, he heard Eve and Dee talking to each other. Though he knew it was wrong, he listened in on their conversation.

"Jeff doesn't know that I haven't seen my parents in five and a half years. I haven't been that open about my past, especially from that point back." Eve, obviously.

"So he doesn't know who your uncle is, then?"

"Please! He doesn't even know that I have an uncle."

*I do now,* Jeff thought guiltily. He couldn't let himself eavesdrop anymore and pushed the door open. Both women looked up at his entrance a little startled. They were probably wondering if he'd heard what they'd said. Until he decided how he was going to deal with what he now knew, he wasn't going to say.


	20. Secret Mission

CHAPTER TWENTY: SECRET MISSION

  
  
  
  


After relaxing several more hours in Dee and Derek's home, the six of them - Eve, Jeff, Matt, Lita, Dee, and Derek (Eve had thought to arrange front row tickets for Dee and Derek a few weeks ago) - headed off the Smackdown in two vehicles. The wrestlers had to get to the arena early to prepare for the show while Dee and Derek planned on going to a restaurant first. Before Eve got into the car with Jeff, Matt, and Lita, she handed a sealed envelope to Dee and told her to open it later. Inside were two backstage passes for Smackdown. They weren't given out very often and Eve had had to use most of her influence and some of Jeff's to get them.

  
  


Jeff grabbed Houdini when they arrived while Eve headed off in search of the Rock, having an important question to ask him. She found him in the cafeteria.

  
  


"Hey, Rocky."

  
  


"Hello, Eve."

  
  


"Can I ask a favor."

  
  


"Sure."

  
  


"I've got some friends coming back stage tonight and I was wondering if you'd mind meeting them? They're big fans of yours," Eve pleaded sweetly.

  
  


"Sure, no problem. You can bring them by my dressing room after the show."

  
  
  
  
  
  


Eve's title shot that night was against Stacy Keibler, who'd managed to win the title from Trish at Vengeance by grabbing the back of her tights in the pin. Winning against this woman would be fairly easy as long as there was no outside interference. Considering her opponent, Eve was almost certain that would be the case. She asked Undertaker and Kane - whose tag team match against the Dudleys was first that night while her match was fourth - to guard the ramp during her match if they made it through theirs without receiving any serious injuries. They had her back.

  
  


Eve picked up an easy win that night and smirked at a stunned Stacy sitting on her ass inside the ring. Stacy was used to being beaten by Eve so she must've been expecting something to happen that obviously didn't.

  
  


When Eve went to Undertaker and Kane backstage, 'Taker told her that Rhyno had tried to get out to the ring during her match with Stacy. Geez, that woman sure got around.

  
  


Jeff and matt had their match right after hers, facing Test and Christian. Test gave Jeff a low blow when the ref's back was turned and Christian pinned Jeff just as the ref's attention returned to the match and got the win.

  
  


Eve caught the action on the small TV in her dressing room and ran to the ramp in time to see Jeff stumbling through the curtain after Matt, who was being helped along by Lita. Eve went to Jeff's side and rubbed his shoulder gently. "Hey," she said.

  
  


"Hey," Jeff replied, pulling her close for a hug.

  
  


"Need an ice pack?"

  
  


"Mmm, don't remind me." Jeff squeezed Eve a little tighter before releasing her.

  
  
  
  
  
  


"How're they doing?" Dee asked Eve when they and Derek got together backstage after the show.

  
  


"A little bruised and tender. Nothing some rest won't take care of."

  
  


Eve was having fun showing Dee and Derek around backstage, explaining with a little more detail the inner workings of things that kept the shows running smoothly.

  
  


They met a few wrestlers along the way to Rock's dressing room. Most of them were friends of Eve's and they ended up spending a few moments talking to each one. When they made it to Rocky's dressing room, the door opened before Eve could knock and out walked Trish Stratus looking slightly... mussed.

  
  


Trish's eyes widened when she saw the three people standing there. "Oh, Eve! I, uh, I was just, uh... I have to go now." Trish began to walk away - quickly - and soon disappeared around a corner.

  
  


Eve gave her impression of the 'People's Eyebrow' as she watched Trish walk away. *That's interesting. I wonder how long this has been going on.* When Trish was gone, Eve knocked on the door and called out, "Hey, Rocky, you decent?"

  
  
  
  
  
  


Late that night - or rather, very early the next morning - Jeff was snooping around Dee and Derek's house. Normally he'd be sleeping right now, staying in bed until at least noon, but thought of Eve were keeping him up. He was searching for her parent's address, hoping that it would be somewhere in this house since he didn't know either of their first names.

  
  


Jeff caught a break about an hour into the search when he entered an office room that had two desks in it - looked like Dee and Derek worked out of their home upon occasion. He went over to the closest one and started opening drawers. Not finding what he was looking for, Jeff moved on to the other desk. I the last drawer, he found an old address book. Flipping to the 'R's, he found an entry for Wade and Theresa Roberts. He grabbed a pen and piece of paper and copied down the address, then replaced things as he had found them, pocketed the piece of paper, and left the room. He was going to try to get some sleep before he tried to find the address tomorrow morning.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Jeff managed to get almost six hours of sleep before he got up. Everyone else was still asleep by the time he had showered, dressed, and choked down some breakfast. He wasn't sure he should be doing what he was about to do, but neither could he stop himself. He had said that he respected Eve's right to deal with her past on her own, but if she hadn't done anything in five and a half years, how much longer would it be before she tried? The longer she waited to try to heal the breach between herself and her parents, the harder it would get to approach them.

  
  


After an hour and a half of driving and stopping for directions, Jeff pulled up to a fair-sized house with white siding, dove grey trim, and a two-door garage. Not as grand as Dee and Derek's home, but very nice just the same. He parked on the street in front of the house and got out. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the van, Jeff suddenly had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he should leave. Who was he, after all, to interfere in Eve's affairs.? He wasn't her husband, fiancée, or even her boyfriend rally. He was just a friend who happened to be in love with Eve.

  
  


While Jeff was standing there in indecision, the front door opened and out walked a blond, middle-aged woman in a blue dress. She looked as shocked to see him as surprised as he was to see her. The decision of whether to stay or to go now taken out of his hands, Jeff walked towards the woman, who stood perfectly still as he approached. "Theresa Roberts?" he asked when he reached her. She nodded and he extended his right hand. "I'm Jeff-"

  
  


"-Hardy. I know." She shook his hand. "You're here about Eve?" Jeff nodded. "I think you had better come inside."


	21. A Feeling of Betrayal, part one

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A FEELING OF BETRAYAL  
  
  
  


A/N: This is the first time that I've stuck one of these in here and I'm doing it now because I want to apologize to the people that have been reading this story and waiting forever for an update. I got stuck a while back and never really got unstuck, except to extend the last scene a little. This chapter is still unfinished, so if any of you have an idea, please let me know, because I check almost every day for new reviews.  
  
  
  


"Does anyone know where Jeff went to?" Matt asked about the same time that Jeff was sitting down to talk to Eve's parents. "The van's gone and he didn't leave a note."

"Maybe he went out to get something to eat," Lita said as she passed the milk to Eve.

"Can't be that," Derek said as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. "There's dishes in the sink. He's already eaten."

Eve was suddenly struck by a feeling of dread. Had Jeff heard her and Dee talking about her parents yesterday? She hadn't been sure, but she could have sworn she'd seen a fleeting look of guilt on Jeff's face as he'd walked into the room. She tried to dismiss the feeling. Jeff didn't know her parents' first names and there was nearly a hundred listings for Roberts in the phone book. It would take him days to go to each address - if that's what he was even up to right now.

Lita leaned over and waved her hand in front of Eve's face. "Earth to Eve. Hello in there."

Eve snapped out of her daze and turned to face Lita. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Yeah. I asked if Jeff had said anthing to you last night or this morning about going out somewhere. He may be reckless in the things he does, but he's always responsible enough to let us know where he's going."

"He never mentioned anything. I know you guys have to catch that plane home this evening. He's gotta be back before you have to leave for the airport."

Somehow the words weren't very comforting.

  
  
  
  


"Is she alright?" Those were the first words out of Theresa's mouth as soon as the door had shut.

Jeff briefly considered the worried look on the older woman's face before answering. "Yeah, she's fine."

Theresa showed Jeff where to hang up his coat. "Don't bother taking off your shoes," she told him as he bent down to unlace them.

"Is your husband home?" Jeff asked as he followed Theresa into her kitchen.

"No. He's away on a business trip right now, but I expect him back tomorrow evening. Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Hardy? Tea? Coffee? I think there's a bottle of brandy in Wade's study, if you'd prefer that."

"Please, call me Jeff. Coffee would be great if its not too much trouble. I drink it black."

Theresa nodded her head, as if in approval, and left Jeff with the feeling that he'd just passed some kind of test.

No more words were spoken until they sat facing each other across the table, a steaming mug placed before them both. Jeff thoughtfully considered the cartoon pig on his mug - it seemed so out place in this elegant home - before he reaised his gaze to look at the mother of the woman he loved.

  
  


A/N: Extra stuff I was talking about at the beginning gets added here.

  
  


"So why are you here?" Theresa asked. "I can't help but think that Eve has no idea about this visit."

"No, she doesn't," Jeff admitted, his gaze falling to his coffee. "It's just... I'm kinda at my wit's end, y'see. I promised Eve the time to deal with her stuff in her own way and on her own, but in the whole time we've been together, I haven't seen her make any effort to change things so I just..."

"Decided to interfere?" Carol asked with a raised eyebrow. Jeff looked up and back down quicly, then nodded once. "Don't worry about it. At least you did something. I've been waiting for six years hoping that my stubborn daughter and my equally stubborn husband would come to their senses and forgive each other. Eve wasn't the only one that ran away that day, we all did."

"I love her," Jeff blurted out.

"I guess. But I'm still not clear on how you managed to find this place.

Jeff had the grace to look ashamed.

  
  


A/N: Well, what do you think? Any ideas? Whoever helps gets credit on this.


End file.
